Algner Alert
by ladyanaconda
Summary: Zipacna has never been fond of children who were not part of his family. Heck, he's not responsible enough to look after a child! Naturally, when he gets a little 'surprise' from one of his little 'escapades', he'll have to cope with his newfound fatherhood while Xibalba and the others deal with problems of their own. Co-written with Neagoieolivia.
1. Prologue

**_Months before…_**

* * *

 _Unlike what humans thought, Gods were not impeccably perfect; they had their own defects, for better or worse. Some let power go to their heads, others were not that worshipped and had very low self-esteem which they attempted to hide with hateful attitudes, others loved humans so much they wouldn't want to carry out their duty to punish unworthy humans who sought their power._

 _But what all Gods had in common was that they needed a drink every now and then._

 _In Zipacna's case, he knew lots of places around the globe where he could go and have some time for himself. It was not he didn't like spending time with his family; it was just sometimes he needed to rest from everyone. Scotland was a good place to go if he had a bar in his mind, but the problem was that when he found a good beverage he just… couldn't stop. This was the main reason he only drank when he was out on a 'Zipacna's night'. He didn't want to imagine what things he could do while drunk if he was already quite reckless when sober._

 _Surprisingly, 'The Kelpie' was a good place. It had a great variation of beverages, and even better, you could find lots of pretty girls around, both human and mythical, though in the latter case he had to pay attention of any signs that his companion was harmless._

 _Zipacna took his twentieth pint of beer, and surprisingly with that he was off. Usually Gods didn't get drunk with mortal drinks, but the other reason The Kelpie was his favorite bar was that its owner and bartender was casually an Aos Sí, who disguised himself as a human to tend to his business. Whenever it was a camouflaged God that came to his bar, he'd serve them from the 'secret stash' where he kept beverages for Gods alone. Those were so strong they could kill a human with one drop; however, in the case of Godly beings, it sent them to the 'clouds'._

 _Zipacna's vision became blurry as he looked around for some form of entertainment, and caught a glimpse of a lovely lady in one of the tables that seemed to be by herself. She looked like a human, but he could tell she was more than that. Her guise was of a cinnamon-skin lady with dark, almost purplish hair, and her eyes were a curious shade of bluish purple that somehow drew him in like a siren's song. Before he knew it, he had walked closer to her table, stumbling in his human guise, but still managing to get to her table._

 _"_ _Well, what's a lovely *_ _ **hick**_ _* lady doing here all *_ _ **hick**_ _* by herself?" he asked between hiccups._

 _The lady, who was apparently as drunk, or maybe more, than him, gave him a dizzy smile. "Waiting for my *_ _ **hick***_ _knight in shining *_ _ **hick***_ _armor to take me_ _ ***hick***_ _to his flamant castle…" she nearly fell of the chair, hadn't Zipacna caught her by the waist._

 _"_ _Well… *_ _ **hick***_ _My castle is flamant… quite_ _ ***hick***_ _literally… How about we go_ _ ***hick***_ _have some fun…?"_

 _The lady gave him a seductive but dizzy look. "W-Well… Show me *_ _ **hick**_ _* what you got, tiger…"_

 _Still stumbling, Zipacna picked his prize up and carried her to the back, stumbling along the way…_

* * *

 **Present Day**

* * *

The day started with a wailing coming from the nursery. If it hadn't been a hard night already, this time Juan Carlos could tell this time it was Clara who cried, and he could tell it was not hunger. He started to shift awake and made his way out of bed, making sure not to wake Marigold up, she already had a rough night already, then he made his way down the hall and into the nursery, casually running into his father-in-law. La Muerte and Marigold had decided the twins could share the nursery with Hugo, since they were about the same age, with only two and a half months of difference. Juan Carlos was happy to say he and Xibalba got better along… sort of.

" _Buenos días, señor_." Juan Carlos greeted him politely.

" _Buenos días_ , b- Juan." Xibalba managed to call him by his name this time. He didn't want La Muerte to overheard him and give him a big scolding again, she had made him quite clear she wanted him to treat Juan Carlos with more respect since he was part of the family now. He could tell Juan Carlos was not used to him referring informally to him, though.

As they walked into the nursery, they found a shocking scene. The twins had somehow found the way to climb out of their cribs, and Clara was wailing while trying to crawl up the wall, soon they learned why; Juan Carlos looked up and found Kyroc sitting on the wall, looking down at his twin sister wondering why she couldn't follow.

"KYROC!" Juan Carlos flew up to the wall and quickly took Kyroc in his arms, though the baby soon started to protest, struggling to get free.

"How in tarnation does he do that?!" Xibalba wondered out loud while picking up Hugo from his crib, watching as Juan Carlos picked Clara, and she reached out to touch her brother.

"It's been the fifth time this month…" Juan Carlos said, rocking both twins in his arms. "It's becoming dangerous, the last time he was on the roof. Well, at least he didn't pick up the couch this time…"

"He what?!"

Juan Carlos froze when he realized Xibalba hadn't been present that time. "Oh, well… It's a funny story…"

"Juan?" Before he could finish the tale, Marigold peeked into the room, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "What happened?"

"Well… Kyroc kind of crawled up the wall again…"

"That kid has got more into him than he looks." Xibalba chuckled as he rubbed Kyroc's hair playfully. "How about we go have breakfast? There are little stomachs here who need to fill their bellies!" he tickled Clara's belly, earning a few giggles in return.

Marigold tried to contain a laugh. "Papá, speaking of which, I think tío Zipacna already beat us to it."

Xibalba's smile vanished. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he apparently arrived early in the morning to be the first to take the warm food. Papá?"

Before she could continue, Xibalba had already made his way out of the nursery, holding Hugo close while muttering under his breath. A few moments later after he entered the dining hall, he found both Zipacna already sitting on the table, and he had served himself a generous portion of food. He wasn't even halfway to the table when Zipacna lifted his gaze to look at him. "Good morning, _hermanito_!" he chirped, lifting his cup of coffee.

"Zipacna, I thought we had talked about this." Xibalba growled. "La Muerte and I said you could come every now and then, but you're starting to abuse it!"

"What? Can't I pay my little brother a visit every now and then!"

"Not at the expense of my wife's food!" Xibalba snapped, swatting his brother's hand away from some _chilaquiles_. "Besides, I thought you had work to do!"

"Camazok's dealing with it."

"Stop abusing that poor boy, would you?! _You_ 're the ruler of the Land of the Cursed, not _him_! You put too much responsibility on him!"

"Come on, he can handle it, it's not that bad."

Xibalba was about to protest further when La Muerte, Juan Carlos and Marigold joined them, Marigold was carrying the twins in her embrace, though Kyroc attempted to occupy most of his mother's embrace, much to Clara's chagrin. Realizing it was futile, Xibalba glared at his brother. "I'll have _another_ talk with you later." He hissed.

With that, the dark god went to take his seat next to his wife. La Muerte was, not surprisingly, in a very good mood, even more than usual this time. She kept humming a little tune, her fingers touching her silver pendant. Marigold had placed her twins on their respective high chairs while Juan Carlos prepared their formula. Zipacna wondered why he didn't simply pop out the bottles with warm milk instead of doing it all by hand, but everytime he mentioned it Juan Carlos simply said his mother taught him it was better to give babies homemade food. Besides, considering he didn't master the 'popping-things-out-of-thin-air' spells as he called materialization, he didn't want to risk popping out a bottle with toxic waste. Marigold had to agree with him on the homemade food stuff if she hadn't materialized the bottles herself.

The maids served beautifully cooked fried eggs with crunchy gold bacon and orange juice, but much to the others' surprise, La Muerte had a different thing in mind for breakfast; she was served partly grilled vegetables coated in butter glaze, a cucumber sandwich and some cream tea.

"Muertita, are you sure you want to eat that?" Xibalba distracted himself momentarily from giving the bottle to Hugo and watched as his wife took a bite from her sandwich. La Muerte first made sure to swallow the mouthful in her mouth before speaking. "I just had a 'craving' for cucumber, _mi amor_." She smiled at him innocently.

Marigold had the feeling what her mother was going to say, but chose no to say anything yet. Apparently she wanted her father to figure it out by himself.

Xibalba hadn't caught on yet. "Are you sure you want to eat that much? You have been having nauseas this past month."

"It's okay, it's not like we haven't already gone through this before."

"What do you mean with gone through this before-?" Xibalba stopped in mid-sentence when he caught the signs. Cravings, morning sickness… could it be? His eyes started to moisten up as he glanced at his wife, his expression brightening. "D-Do you mean… What I think…?" It did make sense.

La Muerte smiled and placed her hands on her abdomen. "I'm pregnant!"

Almost immediately, Xibalba left Hugo momentarily floating in the air to leave his seat and pick his wife up by the waist, twirling her around before pulling her close and peppering her with kisses of joy. Marigold and Juan Carlos equally left their seats, picking up the twins and going to hug La Muerte, congratulating her of the good news. "I'm going to have a baby brother or sister!" Marigold chirped, hugging her mother.

Xibalba had to pick Hugo back up, but nevertheless he pulled La Muerte closer with his wing. "You couldn't have given me better news, _mi amor_!"

Juan Carlos couldn't believe it yet, and yet he felt happy for his wife. "Who would have thought I'd have a brother-in-law younger than me?"

Zipacna remained silent for a while, before he felt his brother's gaze unto him. He instantly knew Xibalba was expecting to see his reaction being a positive one, and wasn't taking it well that he wasn't jumping around in joy. "Well… Congratulations, La Muerte! Another little kid! Hehe…" He cursed himself for failing to hide his nervousness.

"Is something wrong, Zipacna?" La Muerte was equally surprised that his reaction was not like she had imagined.

"No! Nothing is wrong! In fact, everything is color pink!"

Marigold didn't buy it. " _Tío_ , you're nervous."

"M-Me? W-Why would I b-be?"

Xibalba had enough. "Muertita, could you hold Hugo for a while? I'm going to accompany Zipacna for a walk." He handed over his son to his wife, then stomped towards Zipacna and grabbed him by the ear, ignoring his yelps of pain as he dragged him away. La Muerte pulled Hugo closer, staring at her husband and brother-in-law as they disappeared behind the large, colorful doors; she actually knew Xibalba was probably going to give him a good lashing. She usually would have tried to make her husband not be too harsh on Zipacna, but this time she was hurt by Zipacna not taking the news to her pregnancy like she would have liked. The goddess rocked little Hugo in her arms as he started to fidget with her pendant curiously.

"AYAYAY!" Zipacna yelped when his brother dragged him by the ear to someplace, until he was released and he could rub his ear. "What was that for?!"

"What in tarnation is wrong with you?!" Xibalba hissed with narrowed eyes. "La Muerte and I are going to have another baby and you act like it's nothing?! I thought you'd be happy for us!"

"It's not that I'm not happy for you! I am! But…!"

"But what?!"

"Come on, Xibalba! You already have three babies here! Your grandchildren and your son! You barely have time to tend to three at once, and now there's another coming! Couldn't you have waited a little longer?"

"Zipacna, babies just come when you least expect it! And besides, I don't mind looking after another baby if it means La Muerte will have another chance at motherhood!"  
"I'm just saying the stress can drive people mad!"

"What do you know about stress, Zipacna?! All you do all day is come to my castle or La Muerte's and stuff yourself on the food! Or go around courting single, married or otherwise ladies!"

"Hey, courting pretty girls can be stressing too!"

Xibalba groaned in exasperation. "I can tell. Xochiquétzal is always sending me letters complaining about your behavior!"

"Why you?!"

"Considering I'm much more serious and responsible than you, people think _I_ am responsible for _your_ actions when it should be the other way around!"

Zipacna gulped at his brother's tone. "Come on, _hermanito_! We're all grown up now!"

"And precisely because of that, you should be responsible for your _own_ actions! NOT ME!"

"Hey, Xibalba, I think we deviated from the original topic…"

Xibalba sighed, closing his eyes and taking his hand to his temple. "It's not about how many children we have, Zipacna. It's about responsibility. You think four is too many because you have never had any children."

"Why do you think is that? I'm not even married yet! You were married when you had Marigold!"

"And La Muerte went comatose. In other words, I was _almost_ in your situation, and yet how come I could raise a child on my own for fifteen years when you couldn't look after your own niece for fifteen minutes?"

"Would you get over it already?! How many times I have to say I'm sorry!"

"I have not forgotten because Marigold could have gotten hurt! She was just eight months old, Zipacna! I just asked you ONE thing! To be responsible for at least three hours in your life, and you couldn't do that!"

Zipacna didn't defend himself that time. He had him there.

"I don't expect you to understand, Zipacna. When you become a father, everything has to change. You realize there's a little life that completely depends on you, and you do your best to make sure that little life is always happy and safe. You don't care to repeat it all over again when it happens, you just do it because you love your children and you want the best for them."

"Well…" Zipacna had the feeling Xibalba wouldn't want him around for a while. "Now that I remembered, there's some work I have to do back home, _hermanito_ …"

Xibalba knew he was just looking for a excuse to leave this discussion pending, but he decided to let him slip this time. He had more important things to do than keep arguing with Zipacna. "Fine. The next time, try to be a little happier for La Muerte, would you? I want her to have a good pregnancy., and for that I need to make sure she is happy and calm as much as possible, okay?!"

"No offense, _hermanito_ , but sometimes _you_ make that a hard thing, in case you forgot…" Zipacna gulped when he received another glare. " _Nos vemos luego_!" With that, he teleported back to his fiery realm. Zipacna found himself in his main hall. The walls were a blood red with carvings of flames, and fiery red torches illuminated the halls despite the natural glow of the lava rivers surrounding the castle. Zipacna groaned in dismay and leaned against the wall, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"Damn it, I don't understand why takes things so personally… I just gave him my opinion, it wasn't such a big deal…"

Just then, Camazok ran down the hall and towards him. There was a worried expression on his face, but surely it was just about the paperwork accumulated.

"Lord Zipacna, there's something I have to tell you-"

"Can it wait for later, Cam? I'm not really in the mood to hear problems with the Cursed Beasts." Zipacna headed over to his bedroom, but Camazok went after him.

"Err, no, My Lord. It's not that-"

"Then what is it that you're following me around?"

"Well, someone left something at the doorstep-"

"So what? Leave it at my study and I'll take a look at it later."

"It's not precisely mail of that kind, it's-"

"Camazok, really, whatever it is, I'll take a look at it later when I take a nap."

"But it's-!"

Zipacna opened the door to his bedroom, but froze when he spotted something on his bed. A small, tiny creature of a few days old apparently was sleeping on a basket. It had a reptilian head almost reminiscent of Zipacna's, with the smoky black scales and white markings, but it lacked any kind of feathers, and instead of ears it had a pair of fins with grayish light green membranes, and there was a small tuft of white hair on its head. Its tail snuck out of the blankets, revealing a white tip.

Zipacna just stood there, frozen as he saw the little creature in the basket. "Camazok…" he whispered, pointing at the basket. "W-What is… _that_?!"

"I was trying to tell you." Camazok sighed in dismay. "Someone left the baby in the doorstep, and I couldn't just leave it outside so I brought him here-"

He couldn't continue, before he knew it, Zipacna fell backwards, landing on his back as he lost consciousness.


	2. The Infant

**Guys, I forgot to mention in the first chapter. This story is co-written with my dear friend neagoieolivia, and yes, she's become a really helpful friend, so we've decided to work together in a few projects in the future. She helped me develop the story and some of my OCs.**

 **Btw, I'll make an announcement soon, when I find the way to tell it.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

When Zipacna started to regain consciousness, he saw Camazok fanning him with his wing frantically. He stirred awake, shifting to stand up. "Ayayay…"

"Are you okay, My Lord?" Camazok asked in worry.

"Camazok, I had a horrible nightmare…" Zipacna said as he rubbed the back of his head. "I dreamt there was a baby in my room."

"Um… My Lord, that wasn't a nightmare, that was ten minutes ago."

Zipacna's eyes widened in horror. "What?!" the god stood up and glanced at the bed, where he saw the basket, along with the baby, was still on place. The baby started to squeal in discomfort as he tried to unwrap the blankets. "Why is it still here?!"

"I just couldn't leave it outside!"

"Then why didn't you take it to an orphanage or something?!"

"Well…" Camazok gulped as he grabbed a square of paper from the desk and handed it over to his boss. "This came with the baby…" Zipacna snatched the note and read it.

 **It's yours.**

 **Take charge, you irresponsible!**

"What the hell?!" Zipacna crumpled the note into a ball of paper and threw it away, snarling. "Who wrote it?!"

"I don't know! I told you, the servants just found the baby outside and they brought him in!"

"Oh, fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck…!" Zipacna started to pace around, muttering. "This can't be happening! T-This must be a misunderstanding…!" before he could continue, the child started to wail, making Zipacna and Camazok cover their ears. "What do we do?!"

"We?!" Camazok repeated.

"Boy, if I fall, you fall with me!"

"Why don't we ask for help? I mean, maybe Lady La Muerte and Lord Xibalba could lend us a hand-"

"Are you nuts?! If Xibalba finds out about this, I'll never hear the end of it!"

"But no one here knows how to look after a baby!" Camazok glanced at the wailing child. "We'll need all the help we can get!"

Zipacna clutched his ears in irritation at the child's wailing, and groaned in defeat. "Fine! I'll write him a note!"

If he wasn't busy, that is.

* * *

Asclepius ran his hand over La Muerte's abdomen with a scanning spell, and it wasn't long before it glowed a bright blue. Asclepius smiled. "Milady, you are five weeks pregnant."

Xibalba and La Muerte couldn't be happier at the news. The former grabbed his wife's hand, his eyes swelling up with tears, while La Muerte couldn't contain her tears of joy. Asclepius removed his hand.

"Up to now, the little one is doing okay. In a few weeks I'll take a look at you to make sure everything's okay, but right now there's nothing to worry about."

"Another baby, _mi amor_ …" Xibalba peppered his wife's cheek with kisses.

"Balby…" La Muerte giggled, blushing.

Asclepius had started packing his utensils. "So, how's little Kyroc doing?"

"He crawls on the wall." Xibalba sighed. "And turns out he can lift things thrice his size."

"Crawl on the wall?"

"This morning he gave us the fright of our lives…" Xibalba stopped in mid-sentence when suddenly a piece of paper appeared in a burst of orange flames and dropped on his cloak. Curious, he opened it and gave it a read, though the writing was nearly illegible and it seemed it had been written in a rush.

 **XIBALBA! COME AND HELP ME! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!**

"Who is it from, Xibalba?" La Muerte inquired.

"Judging by the near-illegible calligraphy, I could say it's from Zipacna." Xibalba sighed in dismay. "And knowing my brother, he's making a scandal for nothing."

"You could go take a look. What if its something serious?"

"Come on, Muertita. You know that in Zipacna's perspective, losing one of his 'magazines' counts as a red code emergency. Besides, we still have to check things for the baby."

La Muerte smiled sympathetically. "It'll be okay. The baby and I aren't going anywhere. Besides, Asclepius has yet to take a look at Hugo, while he does you can go see what Zipacna needs."

Xibalba sighed in dismay, but nevertheless he stood up, sharing a small kiss with his wife before grabbing his staff and teleporting away, and reappearing a few seconds later in the main foyer of his brother's castle. Camazok was just running down the hall to meet him, looking scared out of his wits.

"I received a note from my brother. Where is he?" Xibalba asked with an irritated grunt. It seemed like he was still sore about what happened earlier.

"In his chambers…"

"Well, do you know what's so urgent that he dragged me out of my wife's check-up?" Before he could say anything else, he heard a sound that he'd never thought he'd hear down there. A baby crying.

Camazok sighed in dismay. " _That_."

Confused, Xibalba flew down the hall, going upstairs and towards the upper levels, until he had flown into Zipacna's room. As he expected, the room was half-a-mess, with the bed all messy and some pillows on the marble floor, magazines and other papers scattered on the desk, floor and under the bed. What he did _not_ expect was to find a few days old infant on the bed, wailing his lungs out. Zipacna himself was a mess, his head feathers were messy and looked like they hadn't been preened in weeks, and he was hiding behind his couch, staring at the baby like it were a monster from his worst nightmares. Zipacna glanced at his brother in despair. "Fix that!" He pointed at the basket.

" _Que demonios_ , Zipacna?!" Almost on instinct, Xibalba headed to the bed and picked the baby from the cradle, rocking him in his arms before glancing at Zipacna. "Can someone please explain me what the hell is going on?!"

"That's what I'd like to know!" Zipacna snapped. "That… THING just appeared in my doorstep!"

"WHAT?!"

"Aren't you listening?! It just appeared in my doorstep this morning, and I just found out half an hour ago!"

Xibalba looked down at the infant, and realized he was apparently hungry. "Sh-sh-sh, it's okay, _pequeño_." With a snap of his fingers he materialized a bottle of warm milk and touched the baby's lips with it; like he suspected, the baby almost instantly latched unto it and started to suckle desperately. He hadn't eaten for hours. "Did you find a note or something?" He had the feeling of what had happened.

"Yeah, and you know what it said?! It's yours! Take charge, you irresponsible!" Zipacna snapped as he left his 'hiding place' momentarily. "Can you believe it?!"

Xibalba frowned at his older brother. "Yes I can."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

"As I know, and _believe me_ , I _know_ you well, this is the result of one of your 'fun times' with who knows who, you've been with so many I lost count. And I totally agree with her in the irresponsible thing, whoever she might be."

Zipacna stared at the baby in realization. He hadn't taken _that_ into consideration, it _did_ make sense. But it couldn't be! "Come on! I know I may be a bit distracted, but…!"

" _Distracted_?! Is that what you call bedding women around?!"

"OKAY! I'm a bit of a pervert, but that doesn't explain why… That thing is here!"

Xibalba muttered and glanced down at the baby, then back at his brother, shifting his gaze between the two. Near-black scales, green eyes, leathery bat wings, reptilian traits… "Well, Zipacna, I won't doubt the fact that he's yours. The resemblance is quite obvious, if you ask me." By then, the baby had finished the whole bottle and now snuggled against the warmth of the stranger's embrace.

"That doesn't mean anything!" Zipacna tried desperately to find a way out. "It could be Sobbek's! He's crocodilian too!"

"Oh, so Sobbek suddenly sprouted wings, turned black and grew feathers?"

He had him there. "Umm… Well, he could… I mean…"

"Yes?"

"… Fine! _Maybe_ it could be mine! But what with it?!"

"No, Zipacna. There is _no_ maybe. He is undoubtedly yours. I see no other reason why someone would leave a mini-copy of yourself at _your_ door. The only explanation I fins is that you left someone pregnant and she couldn't take care of the baby. A mother wouldn't want to leave her kid in danger, so the most logical thing she could do was to leave it with his father."

"What if I _don't_ want it?!" Zipacna crossed his arms. "She could have at least asked me!"

Xibalba rolled his eyes. "Like you asked her when the baby was conceived?"

"What am I supposed to do with…" Zipacna pointed at the baby with a finger. "That?!"

"Would you stop calling him a _that_?! He is a person, not a thing! He doesn't understand why his parents aren't around to protect him! He only has you now to look after him!" Xibalba looked down at his nephew and tickled his snout, making the little one gurgle in delight. He couldn't help but chuckle in amusement, he couldn't understand why Zipacna didn't want this. "Look, Zipacna, a life depends on you. You are his only chance."

But as he tried to offer the baby to his brother, Zipacna stepped away in dismay, turning away. "There's a reason I never married, you know! There's a reason I never had kids, you know! I'm not ready to look after a brat!"

Xibalba sighed in disappointment. "Well, of course. You can't even look after yourself if you ask me."

"Yeah, that's what I-!" Zipacna twitched his ears when he processed what he just heard, glaring at his brother. "Hey! I'm not that irresponsible!"

"Then prove it!" this time, the younger god did hand the baby over to his brother, who didn't have time to reject it this time.

"Hey, w-wait!"

"Till when, Zipacna? I waited enough for you to be responsible, or at least until you pretended to be! Besides…" Xibalba glanced at the baby once again. "I don't think a kid will cause you that many problems. You are the ruler of the Land of the Cursed, after all. If one child can cause you so much trouble, then…" he turned around to leave when Zipacna called out for him once more.

"Wait a second! What am I supposed to do with this?!"

"With _HIM_!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do with _him_?!"

"What a father should do! Look after him!" he noticed how the child had started to giggle at his father's expression. "Besides, I think he likes you."

"But I don't like him!"

"Are you sure? It's like saying you don't like yourself."

"He's not me! I'm me! It's a very different thing! And babies don't do anything but cry and eat… and cry!"

Xibalba chuckled humorlessly. "That sounds like you alright."

"I don't cry! I complain! It's different!"

"He complains about something through crying, it's technically the same thing." He headed over to the door, before stopping just at the doorway. "Oh, I almost forgot." Xibalba snapped his fingers, and summoned a long parchment of paper along with a book on Zipacna's tea table. "You are going to need those things, and try to read the book before he turns one."

"Oh, please! I can read a book about-" Zipacna gulped at the title on the cover. "Fatherhood?!"

"Welcome to the club, _hermano_." Xibalba did snicker this time. "Enjoy." Before Zipacna could say anything else, Xibalba had already disappeared in a streak of tar.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do if he does the second one?!"

Suddenly, the baby started to cry, wriggling in his father's hold uncomfortably, and Zipacna caught a smell coming from the…. Oh, no. Nonono! "CAMAZOK!"

Camazok had just peeked his head through the doorway when he realized what his boss wanted. "…Sorry, My Lord, you're on your own on this one." Camazok was off before he could be reprimanded in any way.

Zipacna sighed in dismay as he glanced at the wailing child. "Whatever did I do to deserve this…?" He didn't see his brother glancing at the scene from the window with a solemn expression.

"Good luck, _hermano_. You're going to need it."

With that, he was off.

* * *

Bathing babies was not as easy as some people made it seem. Marigold asked her mother for help, and she made it look like it was a piece of cake. Then again, Hugo was not a very naughty baby, he was always very calm and well behaved, not to mention he actually _liked_ baths. Kyroc, on the other hand…

"Kyroc, it's okay, it's just water." Juan Carlos repeated for the fifth time, completely drenched as he tried to get his son into the bathtub, but the little one started to wail as soon as the tips of his toes touched the water.

Marigold came closer holding Clara in her arms. "Let me try with Clara, maybe if he sees her in the water he'll see it's okay." When Juan Carlos pulled Kyroc closer and away from the bathtub, Marigold placed her daughter carefully on it. Unlike her brother, as soon as she was in the water Clara started to giggle and splash around playfully, trying to catch the popping bubbles.

La Muerte was giving the bottle to Hugo, standing a few feet away to see how her daughter and son-in-law bathed the baby, supervising them. She giggled at Clara's antics. "Looks like Hugo's not the only one who loves water."

"Kyroc, look!" Juan Carlos chimed as he showed him Clara and the bathtub. "Clarita is in the water and she's happy! How about you go play with her?"

Kyroc stared at his sister, and when Juan Carlos tried to put him in the bathub with her Clara splashed water unto her brother, making Kyroc squeal in discomfort. This time, La Muerte and Marigold couldn't contain their giggles.

"Don't forget to keep the water warm." La Muerte reminded them. "They are sensitive to temperature the first few months."

"I think it's warm enough, mamá." Marigold said, checking the temperature of the water with her hand.

Soon after, Xibalba entered the nursery, looking exasperated. However, his mood notably enlightened as soon as he saw the scene. "Aww, it's bath time?" He walked towards the bathub, rubbing Clara's hair and giving a chuckle when she squealed in discomfort. "Just like your mami."

"Papá…!" Marigold blushed deeply.

"What did Zipacna need, Balby?" La Muerte inquired, going next to him and offering Hugo, who reached out for his father, gurgling.

"You are not going to believe it." Xibalba sighed in dismay as he accepted the baby. "Remember how I once said karma was going to catch up to him someday?"

"I do."

"Guess who wind up in his doorstep this morning while he was here."

"One of his... escapades?" Juan Carlos didn't remove his eyes off Kyroc and Clara.

"Rather, Juan, the _result_ of one of those escapades." Xibalba glanced down at Hugo to give them a clue to what he meant.

La Muerte gasped, taking a hand to her chest. "He found a baby?"

"His own illegitimate son. And I found a nephew, something I never thought I'd see in my entire life."

" _Tío_ Zipacna had a child?" Marigold found it hard to believe. "And who is the mother?"

"Wish I knew, sweetie."

"If he knew who the mother is, it wouldn't be illegitimate." Juan Carlos pointed out.

La Muerte helped her daughter pick the children out of the bathtub, glancing at Xibalba when she was done. "And what did you do?"

Xibalba shrugged. "What a good brother is supposed to do!"

"You helped him out?"

"… In a way, I hope."


	3. Baby Care for Dummies

**Answers to Guest.**

 **1-. I will not mention anything else about my drampires other than letting you know that I WILL use them in time, and if you wait till then you'll have a GREAT surprise.**

 **2-. Akrinok isn't necessarily a Drampire. I had long imagined him as a dragon before I came up with the idea of the drampires, he is an independent character and so I will continue to use him with major changes to his background that I will not mention yet.**

 **3-. The second question should answer this one, but Akrinok is still Zipacna's father and Marigold's grandfather.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"What did I do to deserve this?"

Half an hour had passed and he _still_ hadn't gotten the brat to quiet down no matter what he did. Zipacna thought his head was going to explode from the headache. He had read the 'important' parts of the goddamn book (only the parts that regarded how to stop a baby's wailing) but it hadn't helped much. He guessed it was not hunger, Xibalba had given him the bottle, but that meant there was only the _other thing_ which made babies cry.

To make things worse, Camazok left him on his own on this one.

"What now?!" Zipacna stuffed some napkins into his ears to try and keep the wailing out, as he glared at the baby. "Would you stop wailing for a second so I can think?!" he couldn't be that sure of the diaper thing, but there was only one way to find out. Gulping, Zipacna picked the baby from the basket and unwrapped the blanket, exposing his little body. His feet were white like the tip of his tail, and his bat wings flapped unconsciously. The baby was sobbing in discomfort at the sudden cold air, and twitched his little fins in irritation.

"Well, at least it seems we _do_ have one thing in common…" Zipacna muttered as his ears twitched in irritation. Gulping the lump in his throat again, he took a sniff to the diaper.

Nothing.

"Thank heaven…!" Zipacna sighed in relief as he sat back on the floor, but the baby continued to wail.

Wait, the list. Xibalba had left him a list of stuff he'd need, and maybe he had left some instructions in it to make sure he wouldn't mess it up. Zipacna scrambled to get back on his feet and headed to his bedside table, grabbing the ridiculously long paper and quickly read through it to find something regarding wailing.

 **Babies usually cry when they're hungry, have a dirty diaper or when they simply want to be held. It's up to you to figure it out, but always remember to burp the baby after feeding him to help him expel the air from his stomach.**

"Burping. That sounds easy"

He had seen his brother do it with Marigold, it couldn't be that hard, he just had to pat the baby's back until he burped. "Okay, baby, let's do this as quickly as possible so I can go take a small break from… well, you." He picked the baby up, held his head over his shoulder and started patting his back firmly. But he didn't notice he was putting too much pressure in the patting, and before he knew what had happened the baby had vomited part of his meal into his cloak.

"WHAT THE-?!" Zipacna pulled the baby away and glanced back at his back in horror, then glared at the baby. "Was that necessary?!"

The little one didn't reply. He merely yawned and started to get sleepy. Zipacna placed him back on the basket without bothering to swaddle him up and took off his cloak, throwing it into his dirty clothing basket. Thankfully it wouldn't be that hard to wash it off for his servants. Speaking of which, he better take a look at the list again to see the 'stuff' he'd have to get for the time being.

Normally he wouldn't read anything that was longer than a page, but he was desperate. Unfortunately, Xibalba's habit of being a bit too explicit in certain details hadn't disappeared. It wasn't like he was going to keep the child… right? Just until he could figure out who was the mother so he could give him back.

 **One-piece outfits, shirts, pull-on pants, outer layers to keep the baby warm, hats and mittens, socks or booties, shoes, pajamas…**

"Come on, Xibalba! Why so many clothing if he's almost always wrapped in that blanket, anyway?!" Zipacna snapped to particularly no one as he continued reading.

 **Diapers, wipes, changing pad or table, baby carrier, stroller** … Ha, the day he was caught wearing a baby carrier he'd _marry_! **Nursing pillow, burp cloths, 4-ounce baby bottles, formula (make sure it's the correct one, all babies are different form one another), bottle brushes for washing…** That information would have been useful a minute ago! **Highchair, bowls, baby spoons, sippy cups, bibs...** Maybe he could save these for when the baby could eat actual food, whenever it happened. **Pacifiers, bouncy seat, play mat, toys (the type depends on the baby's liking, but no stuffed dolls nor small toys he could swallow), crib and mattress, bedding, wearable blankets, swaddling blankets…**

"That sounds easy enough, Camazok will have to help me get one, that is." What else…?

 **Safety gates, outlet covers, cupboard and drawer latches, toilet seat locks, edge guards for all furniture with pointy edges (P.D: these things can wait till the baby can walk, but you should put it when he crawls to be more certain).**

"Damn, this kid is going to have me broken in less than a week!" Zipacna groaned in dismay as he stared at the list. Just then, he found another thing written by Xibalba apparently for him specifically.

 **And no, you won't go broke for making sure the baby is safe.**

Yup. Definitely knew him like the back _and_ palm of his hand. Zipacna tucked the list away into his drawer for later, and glanced back at the baby, who by then had fallen asleep suckling his thumb. Maybe in other circumstances he would have thought the baby looked cute, if it hadn't come to ruin his life perhaps.

"Camazok!" Zipacna walked out of his room, and walked through the castle. "I need your help! Camazok!"

Camazok wanted to remain hidden, but he couldn't just abandon his boss like that. He had taken him in when he had nowhere to go, after all. With a sigh of resignation, Camazok flew down from the ceiling and changed back into his original form. "What is it, My Lord?"

"Do you know where I can buy a crib?"

"I guess we could ask a carpenter to make it… But don't you think a cradle would be better? Cribs are usually until babies are a few months old, the baby is just a few days old."

"What's the difference?"

"Well, I think La Muerte would be able to help with that. I think Lord Xibalba must be already be seeing the baby's room, knowing how he is…"

"Good idea! I'll go pay him a visit!"

"Why don't you take the baby with you?"

"Are you kidding me?! What am I doing to do with a kiddo there?!"

Camazok shrugged. "Introduce him to Marigold and the others."

"Can't you stay with him for a while?"

"I might as well accompany you, I think they'll want to meet the baby soon, anyway."

"What-?! I'm not-! It's going to-! ARGH!" Zipacna let out an exasperated groan of defeat, bristling his head feathers in irritation. "Fine! Just keep him away from me as much as possible!" He tapped his talon on the ground as Camazok went to fetch the kiddo, and twenty second later he brought the little vomiting thing in his arms, now wrapped in his blanket again.

Zipacna took off with a flap of his wings and was gone in a blur of black scorched feathers, reappearing seconds later in a familiar, colorful and festive hall, narrowly avoiding flying into a crowd of Remembered, though the frantic flapping of his wings did send a few flying away. Camazok appeared seconds later, more calmly and holding the baby in his arms.

La Muerte had been chatting amiably with some of the Remembered (the Sánchez among them) with little Hugo warmly swaddled and napping in her embrace when Zipacna appeared out of nowhere and nearly flew into some of her subjects before regaining his balance and landing a few feet away, though a few unfortunate people were sent flying in the outburst. "Zipacna?" she asked him, sounding genuinely surprised. "I figured you were shopping things for your baby."

"Correction, it's not confirmed he's mine, I 'm just looking after him while this thing clarifies!" Zipacna retorted, crossing his arms.

"You had a kid?" Carlos didn't know Zipacna that much, but he did look like the type who'd bed multiple women.

"Not confirmed." Zipacna corrected.

"And who's the lucky lady?" Carmelo seemingly didn't understand Zipacna's situation, or maybe he did and was teasing the god about it.

"That's the problem, I _don't_ know."

Anita Sánchez didn't remove her gaze from her knitting. "Let me guess, you bedded a woman, she got pregnant and left the child at your doorstep, am I right?"

Camazok swore Zipacna's eye twitched. "Sort of…"he admitted.

None of the Remembered were surprised at this outcome, and neither was La Muerte, especially her. However, she did spot a small bundle in Camazok's arms. Her maternal instinct emerged as she stared at the little one. "Cam, may I see the baby?"

Camazok approached and shifted the baby in his arms as he held it out. Most of the other Remembered found a clear resemblance to Zipacna. La Muerte smiled at the baby as he opened his eyes, turning out to be a shade of different greens just like his father. "Hello, there, _pequeño_." La Muerte accommodated Hugo in her right arm to hold the baby momentarily. However, Hugo stirred awake wen he realized he had been changed in position and spotted a 'intruder' in his mother's other arm. Hugo squirmed in discomfort and tried to smack at the intruder to get him away from his mami's arm, squealing and yelling. La Muerte pulled him away from the baby. "No, no, Hugo. Don't do that to your cousin."

"Not confirmed." Zipacna muttered.

"No offense, but I think he's pretty obvious you are related." Luis pointed out. "Come on, he's technically a mini-you."

"He's not me!"

"Anyway, La Muerte, we were wondering if you could lend us a hand with a cradle." Camazok brought out the topic before another argue came up. "You know, We don't have any of those things in the Land of the Cursed, and the baby can't sleep in a basket all the time."

"A cheap one, if you don't mind." Zipacna added.

La Muerte frowned at her brother-in-law as she stood up. "Zipacna, you can't take decisions based on the price when it comes to children. You have to pick the right cradle for the baby's size and commodity."

"It's not like they accommodate themselves."

"They do!" Carmen stated matter-of-factly with crossed arms. "At certain age they can roll over in the cradle and suffocate since they can't roll back face-up."

"Well, it's not this one will do it yet, right?"

"You can't know for certain." Anita glanced up at Zipacna momentarily with a severe frown.

Camazok rolled his eyes, before speaking to the older goddess as well. "Don't worry, La Muerte, we'll figure something out regarding the price. You have more knowledge in this issue than we do. That's why we came here."

"There's a nice section in the marketplace where we can look for an appropriate cradle." La Muerte said, more calmly. "Even if we don't find any, there are good craftsmen who could commission one suitable for…" she glanced down at the younger child in her arms, realizing she didn't know his name yet.

Camazok realized what she was trying to say. "Oh, he doesn't have a name yet. Lord Zipacna hasn't thought of any."

"Why should I name another's kid?" Zipacna shrugged, still not looking at the baby.

La Muerte had enough. She bent down to place Hugo in Carmen's embrace for the time being, then she handed Zipacna's son to Camazok as she stomped her way towards Zipacna and grabbed his ear, pulling him away and ignoring his yelps and protests of pain.

"La Muerte, you're hurting my-! AYAYAY! Okay, I got the-!"

Adelita and Scardelita exchanged a smirk and spoke simultaneously. "Mood swings."

* * *

He wasn't happy.

One thing was coming to the Sánchez home in the Land of the Living every once in a while, but coming every week was too much. La Muerte insisted Juan Carlos had every right to come visit his family whenever he wanted, and stated he had to get along with Manolo. He watched from the dark corner as Marigold and Juan Carlos chatted amiably with Manolo and María. Juan Carlos was happily catching up with his parents, playing with his baby brother in his arms, while Marigold held the twins in her arms. Thankfully General Posada was away on some business, if that old man were here bragging about having gods as grandchildren he didn't know if he could contain himself. Xibalba loved his grandchildren, he didn't have to be bragging about it all the time to make it evident, _por el amor de dios_!

Xibalba was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a small hand pulling on his coat. He looked down at Cristina Sánchez, who was staring at him with a rather curious glance, with no trace of fear on her face. Maybe the fact that he was in his human disguise (one of them, at least) had something to do with this.

"Did you see my baby brother, mister Balby?" she asked him.

Xibalba winced. He hated when anyone but his wife called him like that. "Y-Yes, he's cute." He simply said, looking away.

"Marigold said she had a baby brother, and she's going to have another one."

"Yeah, the same age as her children. I admit, it's going to be a bit awkward for the twins to have an uncle their own age."

"You think?"

"One thing is to call a boy your age your cousin, and another is to call him your uncle."

"How about a cousin? You said your brother had a son too."

Xibalba shifted uncomfortably at the reminder. "Yes, he had a baby boy."

"And he has no mama?"

"Not exactly…"

"Why?"

"Let's say he my brother didn't use protection for-"

"PAPÁ!" thankfully Marigold had overheard what her father was going to say, and managed to stop him before he could traumatize Cristina.

"S-Sorry, sweetie!" Xibalba apologized, his face red. He felt uncomfortable with Cristina's gaze still on him.

"Marigold's mama was very nice." She said, smiling this time. "She was very sweet, playful and kind."

"That's my Muertita, alright…" This time, his lips curved upwards into a smile.

"You look happier."

"Well, I… I am happy that my wife is back, and… Marigold will get to know her mother after all…"

"Mister Balby, you think I could go to visit Juan sometime? I mean, I was only there once, and it was very fun…"

"I'm afraid you can only go down when you die, child. Ancient Rules."

"Can't you bend them a little?"

"The last time I did that, I had to fill out a mountain of paperwork, not to mention my bosses weren't very happy."

Cristina leaned against the wall next to him. "You have bosses?"

"Not bosses-bosses, but yes. They are in charge, and they make sure none of gods like me or La Muerte do anything humans can later regret."

"Could I ask them?"

"That's not possible. They live in a place that is completely off-limits to humans."

"Why?"

"Are you this annoying all the time?" Xibalba muttered, before sighing. "Ancient Rules. It's an ancient place which was not made to be seen by humans."

"How about Juan Carlos-?"

"For the tenth time, kid, Juan Carlos ascended into godhood when he… defeated the big bad snake."

"You think I could become a god too?"

Xibalba looked away. "Not unless you can 'defeat' a god, or do something incredibly stupid and bold to earn a place in the pantheon." He lifted a hand. "And no, don't try it or Marigold, your mama _and_ La Muerte will kill me."

He wondered if Zipacna was having a better time than him.


	4. Responsibility

_"_ _ZIPACNAAAA!"_

 _Zipacna had flinched when his brother yelled at the top of his lungs, he wouldn't be surprised if the humans in the Land of the Living had heard him. But right now he was in no position to make jokes; Xibalba was glaring at him, holding his daughter in his arms, but there was a small adhesive bandage on her head, and though Xibalba had managed to calm her down, she was snuggling into her father's embrace and burying her face into the crook of his neck. Zipacna would usually say it was only a scratch and that his brother was turning a small problem into a world-shaking disaster, but he didn't really have the right this time considering this was…_ _ **partly**_ _his fault._

 _He still didn't understand what went wrong. He was supposed to look after her for an hour or two while Xibalba tended to some business, but after five minutes his niece had already scurried out of his sight, and he had no idea she had enough power to teleport all the way to Aztlan. Another twenty minutes later, Xibalba arrives_ _ **very**_ _angry, Marigold with him, and she in turn with a bruise from hitting her head with the corner of a tea table._

 _Zipacna said the first thing that came into his head. "I can explain it…" Not a very good option._

 _Xibalba narrowed his eyes. "Oh, really? Then explain to me why my daughter was in AZTLAN?! ALONE?!"_

 _"_ _I t-took her for a walk, and… we started playing hide-and-seek…."_

 _"_ _Right, hide-and-seek! And why was she using her powers?! Besides, I recall the other Gods telling me they saw Marigold by herself, they never saw a single feather of yours! So stop makina fool of yourself and TELL ME THE TRUTH!"_

 _"_ _Okay, I admit it!" Zipacna couldn't bear it anymore and fell to his knees, whining. "I forgot to secure her cradle and she crawled out! Please don't kill me!"_

 _That was what Xibalba wanted to do upon hearing it. "You… You WHAT?!"_

 _"_ _I didn't secure the cradle, and she got out! And somehow teleported to Aztlan!"_

 _"_ _Zipacna, I only asked you one thing!_ _ **One single thing**_ _… Look after my daughter! And you couldn't focus on that!" Xibalba tightened his grip on his baby. "You-! You are irresponsible and distracted!"_

 _"_ _Come on! It could have been worse!"_

 _"_ _If it had, if it had been something more severe, I swear you wouldn't have any feathers left right now!"_

 _Zipacna gulped and his feather crest pressed against his head in fear. "Oh… I guess I would have deserved it…"_

 _"_ _Oh, no, that was only the best of cases if I actually had any mercy on you."_

 _"_ _I guess am lucky…"_

 _Xibalba closed his eyes, sighing in exasperation as he rubbed his brow. "What am I going to do with you, Zipacna?" he was angry, but genuinely worried. "You can't go on like this, you have to learn responsibility." He shot his older brother a look. "And no, not the definition in the dictionary."_

 _"_ _Come on, it's not that hard!"_

 _Raising a snowy eyebrow, Xibalba snapped his fingers and a parchment of scroll appeared in a burst of green flames. "This hard. Sometimes I wish you had to make one of your own someday."_

 _"_ _Hey, you don't I don't like to read. And that thing is too long!"_

 _"_ _I didn't mean for you to read it now. You are responsible when you do all things written here without the need to be looking at the list at all, when it becomes something natural for you."_

 _"_ _I don't get it…"_

 _"_ _You are responsible when you do those things not because you feel like 'hey, I should make one or two things from the list. You ARE responsible when you understand why you make them and who you make them all for. If you can't take care of yourself, I can't frankly imagine you with a kid of your own."_

 _Zipacna rolled his eyes. "That's' why I don't have kids in the first place, genius. They're too much trouble… Well, Marigold is an exception, she's adorable, but most of them drive me nuts!"_

 _"_ _Trust me, I used to think the same." Xibalba looked down at Marigold as she snuggled into his embrace, fidgeting a small strand of hair with his finger. "Only after you have your own you might understand."_

 _"_ _Maybe…" Zipacna looked away, bending back his ears._

 _"_ _I'm still thinking if I will ever give you a second chance someday in trying to take care of my baby."_

 _"_ _Well, who knows…"_

 _Xibalba frowned. "Not too soon, I'm not leaving you alone with her again for a good while, not until you read this." He handed his brother the list again, making him groan in dismay. Adding insult to injury, Marigold giggled in her sleep, as if reacting to her uncle's expression, making Xibalba smirk triumphantly. "You better get started."_

La Muerte had taken him to a nice place in the marketplace where the carpenter was more than delighted to show them his cradles. Zipacna had to refrain himself from asking which was the cheapest one, he didn't want to get another ear pull from La Muerte. Finally, they picked a cradle wide enough for the newborn's wings, and afterwards they went to buy other essentials from Xibalba's list, much to Zipacna's dismay. All the while, La Muerte held Hugo in her arms while Camazok held his master's 'potential son', but Hugo didn't like the idea of sharing his mama, and cried while trying to keep the 'intruder' away, in turn making him cry, much to Zipacna's dismay.

Once they got back to the castle, La Muerte decided to teach Zipacna the basics of looking after a baby, even though he wasn't that enthusiastic about it. By then, both babies were hungry, which became evident when Zipacna's son started to make a suction motion with his lips and Hugo started to nuzzle against his mother's breast, as if looking for something… Zipacna had to look away for the time being, if Xibalba caught him watching this he was dead meat. La Muerte led them both to the kitchen to teach them how to make the baby's formula.

"Can't I give him normal milk? Its technically the same."

"He is too young for cow milk." La Muerte explained patiently, though she was exasperated at his carelessness. "They can't digest it as easily as breast milk or formula. If you give him normal milk it'll damage his kidneys, and he won't receive the nutrients he needs."

"How come you know that much about milk?"

"I read lots of maternity books when I was pregnant with Marigold, remember? You should give it a try."

Zipacna grunted, crossing his arms. "Fine, how is that famous formula made?"

La Muerte had placed Hugo and secured him on the high chair assigned to him, giving him a small spoon to play while she prepared the milk. She filled a kettle with some water and placed it on the stove. "Always use fresh water, don't use water that was boiled before. If you change tap water you might give the baby a tummy upset, but when you have no choice but to use bottled water always make sure to boil it first." She was using a thermometer to take the temperature of the water, and often glanced at the clock in the wall. "The water should be at least 70 degrees C, but don't boil it completely, only hot enough to kill any bacteria that might be in the water. Afterwards allow it to cool for no more than 30 minutes."

Zipacna was bored as hell, but he dare not complain. La Muerte was lending him a hand, the last thing he needed was to make her angry. He didn't want to give Xibalba another reason to be mad at him. He tried to keep his eyes on the kettle as La Muerte lifted it with a thick kitchen towel and placed it aside to wait till it cooled down.

"Hey, how's the new baby doing?" he asked casually, trying to break the ice.

"Up to now, he's calm." La Muerte sighed, smiling as she rubbed her flat stomach gingerly. "I can't wait till he starts kicking in a few months…"

"La Muerte, aren't you worried the baby and Hugo might not… get along?" Camazok asked. "You know, there's going to be little age difference, Hugo's too young to understand these kind of things, and he might get jealous."

"That's pretty obvious…" Zipacna muttered. "He didn't even want to share an embrace with this kid here…" he pointed at his so-called son in Camazok's arms. "How is he going to share with a little sibling?"

"It'll be okay, we'll figure it out." La Muerte assured them, picking up Hugo when he reached out his arms for her. Once he was safely and comfortably snuggled, La Muerte waved her hand and one of the cupboards with food opened, and she levitated jar filled with a sort of white powder. "That's the formula we use for Hugo and the twins, but your son might need a different one since he's younger."

Zipacna was going to say 'not confirmed', but La Muerte only had to shoot him a glance to keep his mouth shut. She continued. "You have to pour the right amount of water first, then you add the right number of scoops of powder, then you screw the teat of the bottle tightly in the retaining ring. Lastly all you have to do is to shake it until the powder has dissolved completely."

"I think I got it…"

Camazok had been taking notes, assuming his boss wouldn't bother to, and he was right.

A while later, the water in the kettle had cooled down enough for La Muerte to pour enough water into two baby bottles to satisfy the babies. However, Hugo and his cousin started to sob, demanding to be fed. "Shh, it's okay, Hugo, mami's nearly done…."

"My Lord, could you lend me a hand…?" Camazok pointed out as he tried to calm the squirming infant down. "My arms are hurting."

Zipacna sighed in dismay as he walked closer to Camazok and grabbed the baby with his hands, trying to hold him as careful but as far from him as possible. La Muerte frowned and momentarily stopped in her task to approach Zipacna. "If you hold him like that you could drop him." She said sternly as she accommodated the baby in her brother-in-law's arms. "You have to hold him close to your chest and make sure he is comfortable, especially his head. His neck can't hold the weight of it yet."

"Okay…" Zipacna was stiff as he held the baby 'properly' this time, thinking the child would break at the slightest touch. "So I just hold him like this till he falls asleep?"

"You have to rock him to make him sleepy, and a lullaby often helps."

"I _don't_ sing."

La Muerte sighed in dismay and headed back to the bottles, pouring the right amount of powder into each bottle, then sealing the bottles with their lids and shaking them. Soon, the water turned into a milky liquid. La Muerte grabbed one of the bottles and touched Hugo's lips with the tip of the teat, which he almost immediately latched on to.

"Looks easy enough…" Zipacna commented as he grabbed the bottle. He touched the baby's lips with the tip of the teat, and he latched unto it to suckle the milk. Zipacna sighed in relief, but soon the baby was making sounds of effort and tilted his head awkwardly. Zipacna panicked momentarily.

"Zipacna, he can't swallow the milk properly in that position." La Muerte explained calmly. "You have to raise him to sit up a bit more, and hold him closer.

Zipacna did as told, and the baby relaxed, continuing with his meal.

"Well, now _this_ is something."

Zipacna groaned in dismay when Xibalba walked into the kitchen with an amused grin.

"I never thought I'd see you like that, Zipacna." He chuckled as he walked over to his wife and kissed her cheek, earning a giggle in return. "How are you this morning, _mi amor_?"

"I had to take Zipacna to do some shopping for his son." La Muerte said, rocking Hugo in her arms while he continued with his meal. "And turns out Hugo doesn't like to share me."

"Really?" Xibalba decided to tease his son a bit, and pulled La Muerte into an embrace, peppering her face with kisses. Almost instantly, Hugo released the bottle and started to squeal in discomfort, trying to call his mother's attention again.

"Xibalba, don't be like that." La Muerte frowned, but still she allowed Xibalba to take Hugo in his arms to give her a break. Hugo cried when he realized he was not in his mother's embrace anymore, reaching out his hands for her.

"Come on, _mijo_ , give mami a break, her arms are aching." Xibalba told him gently.

"And you still ask me why I don't like children…." Zipacna muttered in a very low voice, thankfully Hugo's cries didn't let La Muerte hear what he had said.

"Um, My Lord, the bottle's empty…" Camazok pointed out.

Zipacna looked down and realized the baby had long finished the milk, so he took the bottle away to put it on the table. The baby frowned and shifted, letting out uncomfortable coos. "For goodness sake, what now?!"

"You have to burp the baby." La Muerte explained.

"Don't tell me they need help for that too!"

Xibalba rolled his eyes. "He gets air into his stomach from feeding, and he can't take it out on his own yet."

"So?"

La Muerte approached and accommodated the baby in Zipacna's arms so that he was holding him against his chest, and the baby's chin was on his shoulder, she placed one of his hands on the baby's back. "Now all you have to do is to pat and rub his back."

Zipacna did as told, but La Muerte stopped him when he patted too hard on the baby's back, then she gave a few firm but gentle pats to show him how it was done.

"So, have you thought of a name for him yet?" Xibalba inquired, patting Hugo's back until he let out a small burp.

"Why should I name him if I'm not keeping him?"

"Again with that, Zipacna?" La Muerte crossed her arms. "You can't give your son away just because you don't like to take care of children!"

"I don't even know if he's mine!"

"Zipacna, I think it's pretty obvious he's yours!"

"He's still in the negation state." Xibalba muttered to Hugo, who didn't understand what he meant with that.

"Haven't you heard of responsibility, Zipacna?"

Xibalba sighed. "I've always told him, but he doesn't listen."

"I don't need a kid for that!" Zipacna snapped.

"Lord Zipacna, I think you should be careful with how you handle the baby…!" Camazok gulped. "He might-!" He hadn't finished the sentence when suddenly the baby vomited a milky liquid unto Zipacna's cloak, before starting to hiccup. Zipacna froze in dismay, while Xibalba had to contain a snicker at the look on his brother's face. Hugo giggled, while La Muerte couldn't help but giggle.

Zipacna glared at them, but Camazok spoke before he could say anything. "So… How does Sam sound for the baby?"


	5. Conflicts

"Name. I'm not going to name that kid, I don't plan on keeping him anyway!" Zipacna growled under his breath as he tried to put the cradle together, but he was having trouble with the cushions. They had come back down a while ago, and he still didn't get to take a break, now he had to make the cradle, accommodate the baby's things and Xibalba insisted that he start thinking on making a nursery.

Camazok didn't have any choice but to help his boss clean up his bedchambers, removing all the wrinkled papers, long-forgotten boxes of pizza among other foods, and accommodate the baby's bottles, diapers and clothes among other things. He had been silent for a while now.

"Damn it, it doesn't fit!" Zipacna tried to no avail to put a large cushion into the cradle.

"My Lord, that is too big for the baby."

With a roll of his eyes, the older god snapped his fingers, shrinking the cushion until it was small enough to fit into the cradle. "That's it, I had enough of this!" Another snap of his fingers, and the cradle was finished, all in once piece.

"My Lord, wouldn't it have been easier if you read the instructions?"

"Kiddo, never say the word read and me in the same sentence."

The baby had thankfully fallen asleep a while ago, so they didn't need to worry about him for the time being. Camazok had to make sure the cradle was properly assembled since Zipacna apparently didn't have any intention to do so, and when he was certain it would support the baby's weight he carefully picked him up and placed him there, tucking him in like La Muerte had showed them, making sure he wouldn't roll face-down.

"Say, Camazok… Now that we're on it… Have you heard anything from your dad?" Zipacna didn't want to remind him of it, it was a touchy subject, but he had to talk about it sometime.

Like he expected, Camazok was silent for a few moments before he sighed sadly. "As always. Nothing from him, I doubt he even remembers he had _two_ sons."

"I'm sorry for that, my boy…" Zipacna sighed sadly, patting Camazok's back in reassuring way. "Wouldn't you like to take some time off? You know, you can clear up your head."

"What about the baby, My Lord?"

"I think I can handle it for a few hours, go and take a breath. Besides, what can happen if he's asleep?"

Camazok sighed, smiling thankfully. " _Gracias_ , My Lord." He walked out of the room and walked down the hall. He heard screams coming from the outside, but he had grown accustomed to them a while ago. It wasn't that he didn't feel sorry for those poor souls, but they had done horrible things in life that made them end up down there, so they had technically were the only ones responsible for ending up here.

Zipacna's castle was twice the size of that of his younger brother's, but it wasn't as much organized. Sure, most of the rooms were impeccable, but the ones frequented by Zipacna were often a mess, particularly his chambers, the kitchen and the living room, but the throne room was miraculously neat and clean, to make it look more professional. His study was a sea of paper that he always left for 'later', but Camazok often wondered if what Zipacna's definition of 'later 'was.

There was still some mail on the throne room, and given Camazok's natural behavior of organizing things, he thought it wouldn't hurt to take a look at them before going to relax. It wasn't such a big pile, only about twenty five envelopes, most of them from Aztlan. A few minutes later after starting to check the envelopes, there was a knock on the door. Camazok placed the envelopes aside and headed towards the large, menacing doors to see who was outside and tell them to come back later.

But when he saw who was behind the door, he wished he hadn't opened it.

Camazotz looked even older than he actually was, his red eyes, once fierce and one might even say arrogant, were bloodshot and showed only regret. As always, though, he wore his dark cloak and that regality that had characterized him always. But when he saw his younger son after so long, his eyes nearly became glossy with tears. He had grown so much in maturity, and there were scars in his arms and wings that he didn't have before. "Hello there, my boy…" he whispered.

Camazok stepped back in shock and fear. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you. Doesn't a father deserve that?"

But Camazok frowned at those words. "Oh… So _now_ I'm your son, huh?" his own eyes were swelling up with tears of hurt. "What's wrong, _dad_? Your favorite son is not around anymore and all of sudden you remembered me?

Camazotz didn't have words to defend himself with at that statement.

"Or did I appear in one of your dreams? Otherwise I can't explain nor understand such… care all of sudden." The younger bat god went back to checking on the mail.

"I just want to talk to you."

"Talk…" Camazok didn't look up at his father as his grip on the papers tightened. " _Hearing_ you doesn't necessarily mean I'll _listen_ to anything you have to say."

"I wanted to ask you why you didn't come home."

That was the last straw. Camazok placed the envelopes aside roughly, glaring at his father with teary eyes as a feeling of indignation came all over him. "Seriously?! You didn't even bother to come here just to tell me that, did you?! I'm not blind not to see where I am, or stupid to forget whatever I did or didn't do!"

"I was worried, my boy. Why didn't you return?"

"Do I really need to answer _that_?!" By then, the younger bat god was closing in on his father, who didn't lift his voice a single time despite having always threatened him to cut off his tongue should he lift his voice like this at him. "Do you think I would have refused a better life than back 'home'?! You surely have the guts to come here and ask me why I didn't 'go home'!"

Camazotz flinched at his son's hard words. "I know I wasn't the best father, but… It doesn't mean I don't care about you."

"Oh, really. It didn't seem like you did at all." Camazok finally looked at his father in the eyes. "In fact, I'm surprised the word 'care' is in your vocabulary."

"I had my reasons to… act like I did…" Camazotz looked away in shame, dropping his long pointy bat ears. His voice was genuinely sad and regretful. "Only after I lost your brother did I realize my error…"

"Oh, how sad." Camazok's tone became sarcastic. "Your favorite son died and you didn't realize your error, until now you realize that you have another son!"

"I don't want to lose the only family I have left!"

"It's too late. Apparently I died the same day mother died…" By then Camazok wept openly as he leaned against the pillar, his back turned on his father, who flinched at the mention of his late wife. "And you forgot, or didn't see me the same as you saw Camazotl! You didn't see me as a gift from mother to you! AND YOU THINK I WANTED TO KILL HER! SHE DIED TRYING TO GIVE ME TO YOU!"

That was what hurt the most. He didn't remember anything about his mother, and whenever he tried to ask his father and older brother about her they gave him cold shoulders and harsh words. He wouldn't know about her if his nanny, the only person who treated him kindly, hadn't told him about her. As far as he knew, she had been sickly but devoted, she had been waiting eagerly for him to come, and managed to look at him once before death claimed her.

Camazotz had closed his eyes shut, tears streaming down his face. "I know that…" she would have been disappointed at him for mistreating the baby she had given her life for. "I know but… I didn't want to see it… I was blinded by grief and fury, I wanted to blame someone for what happened… And I ended up blaming you."

Camazok didn't say anything for a while. Finally, he looked up at his father bitterly. "Are you finished?"

"No." Camazotz said. "I had come to take you home, but I see Zipacna has influenced you too much."

"Oh, no! I'm not going anywhere with you! And what if he did, anyway?"

"Boy, can't you see he's turning you against me? I don't want you to end up like him!"

"He didn't turn me against you! You turned me against you yourself! He is more of…" Camazok sobbed, struggling To talk. "a… A FATHER TO ME THAN YOU EVER WERE! AND IF YOU THINK I'M SAYING THESE WORDS JUST TO MAKE YOU MAD YO OBVIOUSLY DON'T KNOW ME!"

"Lord Zipacna made me feel accepted and loved! He… He made me laugh! I may do his work among other things, but he always rewards me and shows me gratitude in many ways! We drink together, laugh together, and go to places together!"

Camazotz was hurt at those words, realizing he was right.

"All the things you didn't show me, he did…"

"I…"

"Are you finished now?"

Before Camazotz couls say anything else, Zipacna walked into the throne room with an dismayed expression. "Cam, can we go take the b…" he stopped short when he saw who was inside. "…Oh." When Camazok didn't say anything, he guessed what was happening. "What is going on?"

"You!" Camazotz's fur bristled in anger upon seeing the man who was robbing him of his only remaining son's affection. "What have you done to my son?!"

"Dad, stop it!" Camazok snapped in dismay.

"What exactly have I done to your son, if I may know?" Zipacna stated matter-of-factly, crossing his arms.

"You turned him against me!"

"Did I? I don't recall saying any bad words about you, or even mention you at all, to Cam ever since he moved here, did I?"

"Dad, Lord Zipacna didn't turn me against you!" Camazok insisted.

Camazotz didn't back down. "He's my son! You have no right to keep him from me!"

Zipacna simply glanced at Camazok. "Cam, did I ever force you to stay here?"

"No." Camazok replied.

"Have I forced you to do anything you didn't want to?"

"No."

Zipacna glanced back at Camazotz with a frown. "Camazok told me that he wanted to… stay as far from you as possible. When I offered him the job… not really a job, but still, you know what I mean, he accepted it.

Camazok decided to try and convince his father in the good way. "Father… Lord Zipacna is very good to me, he did not threaten me or anything. It was my own decision to come here." He sighed. "And it was a good thing I did. I cleared my mind from everything."

"You want to spend time with your son? Ask him. He has all the freedom to do whatever he wishes to do."

Camazotz winced as he looked back at his son. His indifference was hurting him, even though he knew he actually deserved it. He tried to get closer to his son, only for Camazok to step back. "Son, I just…"

"Just?" Camazok turned his back on his father.

"I just want to make up to you…"

"…How?"

"Well… I believe I will leave you alone for the time being…" Zipacna felt out of place and headed towards the doors. "you know, so you can talk… and Cam, remember, you can do as you wish."

"I know…"

As Zipacna left the room, Camazotz made one last try. "Just… just let me show you…"

"H-How..?" Camazok whispered, a tear rolling down his cheek. "You never showed me anything but rejection…"

"I want to make up for that neglect. I want to show you I changed…"

Tears started to roll down Camazok's cheeks. He had missed a few things of his old life. He missed his nanny, the large library he would lock himself in to read, among other things. But he was still afraid of his father. "Do I have a place back home for a few days? …I miss my library… And… my room… colder climate would do me good, I think."

Hope came over Camazotz as he nodded. "You may return whenever you want, it's your home…" When his son failed to contain any tears, his old shriveled heart started to beat. "I'm sorry…"

Finally, Camazok couldn't take it any longer and ran to his father, hugging him. The older god returned the hug and pulled his son closer, the two of them weeping. It was the first time Camazok received an actual hug from his father, a real one. "D-Daddy…! I know you are… I… I missed you!"

"I missed you too, my boy…" Camazotz whispered to him, weeping too. "I'm sorry for everything…" he wished he had not been so unfair. things would have been so different if he had given his son the affection and love he needed. After what seemed like an eternity, they pulled away. Camazok calmed down enough to talk to his father again.

"Will you wait here while I pack a bit?"

"I'll wait. I don't think Zipacna will let me in…"

"Dad, it's my room. He doesn't have that much authority there. And trust me, he is not as airheaded as you think he is."

"I guess, but we still aren't in good terms."

"Dad, Lord Zipacna _is_ in good terms with everyone, they just don't give him a chance.

"I do admit I'm grateful he took good care of you, my boy…" Camazotz looked up. "Though he apparently has a kid of his own now."

Both bat deities perked their ears at a distant sound coming from the distant upper rooms of the castle, but their acute hearing let them know it was a yell of 'not confirmed'. Camazok rolled his eyes in dismay. "How did you find out?"

"Nothing happens in the pantheon without everyone finding out about it."

"Well ,you can confirm it if you see the baby for yourself."

"I could smell their linked blood if I could sniff the child first."

Camazok made sure there was no one around, before whispering. "Me too, but don't tell Lord Zipacna. All walls have ears and lead to him, he knew everything that happens in the castle somehow."

Unbeknown to the two of them, there was a raven with green eyes spying on them from the chandelier.

* * *

La Muerte had been taking a look at some paint colors for the nursery when suddenly she momentarily lost consciousness for a few seconds, not completely, but she lost her footing and Xibalba had caught her in his arms. It was nothing to worry about, but Xibalba immediately carried her to bed and gave her some tea. He wouldn't let her leave bed for a few hours until Asclepius had to come and tell him nothing was wrong, that it was a normal symptom for pregnancy, for Xibalba to calm down.

La Muerte couldn't help but be annoyed at Xibalba's exaggeration, though she knew he meant well. He was just nervous about the new baby, and she could tell he wanted to make sure she wasn't poisoned again, though it would be more probable to be hit by lighting. They decided to live in the Land of the Forgotten to give Marigold and Juan Carlos their privacy, but lately they stayed most of the day in the Land of the Remembered to La Muerte could catch up to all the work and changes.

And she still had a few things to talk with him.

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" She told him, frowning as she rocked Hugo in her arms. "It was nothing grave."

Xibalba defended himself. "You fainted, my dear. I panicked."

"You should now by now that's normal in the early stages of a pregnancy."

"I guess I did loose it for a while…"

"You mean when you nearly killed Juan Carlos?"

"Come on, Muertita! I didn't touch him!" Xibalba chuckled nervously. "It was just a prank!"

"You call electrocuting him for bringing me sushi a prank?"

"Come on, La Muerte. Raw fish?"

"I'm not going to die for some cravings."

"We can't know that for certain…"

La Muerte decided she had enough. Once she was certain Hugo was fast asleep, she went over to place him on the cradle and tuck him in carefully, before grabbing Xibalba by the arm and pulling him away a bit roughly.

"Ayayay! Muertita, you're going to dislocate my arm!" He had the feeling she was going to give him a good scolding, he knew that look.

When they were back in their bedchambers, La Muerte closed the door and turned to Xibalba, crossing her arms. "Okay, Xibalba, what's wrong with you?"

"Whatever do you mean, my dear?"

"I know you're worried about me and the baby but you're going overboard. I can't even take a snack from _my own_ table without you having someone taste it first."

"Weeeell…" Xibalba fidgeted with his staff nervously, trying to say something believable. "It could be…. You know, rotten…"

"Xibalba, the food in the Land of the Remembered cannot go rotten. It's something else."

"I… How can you…?"

"It's because of Aimé, isn't it?"

At the mention of Aimé, Xibalba's mood immediately went sour. "Must we really talk about her? No offense, Muertita, but I think we have nothing more to talk regarding her."

"You're afraid someone might do the same as her?"

"Come on! Who would want to hurt you…?!"

"That's the point. You act as if I had many enemies to take care from."

"I just want you to have a good pregnancy, my dear…" Xibalba sighed, stepping closer to his wife. "I know I've been overreacting these days, but I want both you and the baby to be healthy…"

La Muerte turned away from him, sighing. "And your attitude towards Juan Carlos?"

 _Shoot_. "What? I gotta make sure he stays in place."

"And where would that place be, according to you?"

"Not hurting our baby, for starters."

At that sentence, La Muerte turned to face Xibalba with a deep frown. "You talk much about hurting Marigold when you were the one who hurt her to start with."

Xibalba froze when she brought yet another painful topic up. "That… I was just trying to-"

"You do realize what you did, don't you?" La Muerte hissed. "You did _exactly the same thing_ you did with me when we bet on Manolo and Joaquín regarding María. You coaxed our daughter into a wager, and you _cheated_." Her eyes were on fire. "You do realize how much you hurt her because of your selfishness?!"

"I made a bad decision, I admit it, but she was going to break the Ancient Rules by even getting her eyes on that human!"

"True love always finds a way, Xibalba. Even then, he risked his life to save Marigold and ascended into Godhood for killing Víbora. He saved our daughter, _that_ should have been enough for you to accept him!"

Xibalba stepped back when she started to lean in closer to him, and not in a seductive way. "I _am_ grateful, but-!"

"But?"

"It's…" He didn't know how to tell her he didn't like Juan Carlos because he was a Sánchez, and Manolo's son in particular. "I don't know, there's just something in him that drives me nuts!"

La Muerte sighed in dismay as she turned around, crossing her arms. "You made my daughter cry, Xibalba. Your daughter. You have no idea of how I wanted to give you a good slap for that."

Xibalba gulped. "You still could, my dear… I mean, you have all the right if you wish so."

La Muerte finally turned to see him again, her features considerably calmer, and she approached him. Xibalba momentarily froze when she lifted a hand to touch his cheek, but he instantly melted seconds afterwards, smiling goofily as he shivered in pleasure at the mere touch of her gentle, sweet, beautiful, sugary, soft hand running down his cheek…

He didn't have time to react for the big slap he received a few seconds later.


	6. Warming Up

_The Candlemaker had to admit, he had seen lots of crazy stuff in all the years he had existed, but_ _ **this**_ _was priceless._

 _Zipacna coming into the Cave of Souls, his feathers all ruffled and messy, his eyes baggy, and a mini-copy of him wailing in his arms._

 _"_ _If you laugh I'll shave those clouds you call beard." Zipacna hissed irritated._

 _"_ _Sorry, man, it's just I never thought I'd see you with a kid!"_

 _"_ _Not confirmed mine."_

 _"_ _He looks pretty much like you, if you ask me."_

 _Zipacna growled, stiffening. "That's the reason I came here, actually!" He had to yell due to the baby wailing. "I want to confirm once and for all that the brat is not mine!"_

 _The Candlemaker glanced at the baby, then at Zipacna. "When did you have your eyesight checked last, man?"_

 _"_ _Just check it, would you?!"_

 _Sighing in dismay, the Candlemaker motioned the Book of Life to get closer, then Zipacna to approach. The little one had no idea of what was going on, he just kept his eyes closed, gurgling in discomfort at the excessive light coming from the candles. Book opened its pages to the infant's First Page, it didn't have much writing in it because he was just a few days old, and the top part of the page where the name was supposed to be was blank too, probably because he hadn't been named yet._

 _"_ _How does it work exactly?" Zipacna inquired._

 _"_ _You just place your hand and the baby's on the page, if he's yours an aura will bind both your hands. It's infallible, just so you know." The Candlemaker explained. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? I mean, you don't really need an Aura Scanning to tell…"_

 _He hadn't finished when Zipacna had already put his hand and the child's on top of the partly blank page. But much to his dismay, soon a green aura emerged from the pages of the Book and surrounded both their hands, before disappearing. The Candlemaker make a sassing sound as he shook his hand._

 _"_ _He's yours, man."_

 _Zipacna was frozen in shock, staring at his hand and then at the child's. "D-Does it say who the mother is?"_

 _"_ _I'm afraid since he wasn't born in Book's jurisdiction, that information is not available."_

 _"_ _So? I'm stuck with the brat for the rest of my life?!"_

 _"_ _Come on, Zipacna! It's not that bad! I mean, you just have to get used to it, that's all! Once you get hooked up to the baby, you'll think he is the cutest little thing ever!" the Candlemaker proved his point by tickling the baby's nose, making him giggle. "Aww, who's the cutest little baby?"_

 _"_ _If you don't take into account all his messes and crying and drooling!" Zipacna snapped again._

 _"_ _You didn't complain when Marigoldie was a baby!"_

 _"_ _She was Xibalba's kid, he was the one who looked after her, I just pampered her when he wasn't looking!"_

 _"_ _It's not that different, only this time you'll be the one looking after the baby while Xibalba pampers him when you're not looking!" The Candlemaker chuckled, trying to lighten up Zipacna's mood to no avail._

* * *

Little bundle of joy. As if.

The past three days were a utter nightmare without Camazok. Sure, he had every right to reconcile with his father, but he had gotten used to him being around. That, and he had been the one helping him with the baby, since Xibalba and La Muerte were too busy with their new, upcoming baby plus Hugo, and Marigold and Juan Carlos had their own pair of twins to look after. Changing the diapers was a nightmare, he barely remembered the order of the formula's preparation, and the baby's cries simply didn't let him sleep. His servants had no idea of how to look after a child, so asking them to look after the baby was out of the question.

Zipacna woke up for the fourth time that night when he heard the baby crying again. "I'm coming…!" he cried out, throwing the covers off him and going to the cradle, grumbling. "Coming!" As he peeked into the cradle, he saw the baby wailing his lungs out, wiggling in the blankets.

"Why, baby?!" Zipacna groaned in dismay, sighing, only to flinch when the baby cried even louder at the yell, which prompted him into picking the baby up, shushing him a bit before whispering to himself. "What did I do to deserve this?"

Suddenly, the baby ceased crying, instead shifting uncomfortably and making funny faces. Zipacna didn't know if something was bothering him, or if the baby was laughing at his misery.

"Haha, funny, isn't it?" Zipacna muttered, figuring out he was hungry. He snapped his fingers to materialize a bottle with warm milk to save himself the bother to go down to the kitchen at this hour and make a mess of it again. He accommodated the baby in his arms like La Muerte had shown him to, and touched the tip of the baby's lips, to which he immediately latched on. Zipacna sighed in relief at the momentary silence, letting out a yawn a few seconds later. "Why, little guy… Why couldn't your mother keep you? But no, Zipacna, you had to do what you always do!" Zipacna reproached himself in dismay and anger, something which he rarely did. "Me and my habits…"

Suddenly, the baby stopped eating and whimpered, moving around with a deep frown and an uncomfortable expression. "Shh, I can't understand what you want from me, kid!" Zipacna cried out softly. "All _I_ want from _you_ is that you let me sleep for at least four hours in a row, please! I'm the one who's having a bad time here!"

Before he could do anything about it, the baby threw up, the milky vomit landing unto Zipacna's chest. He quickly pulled the baby away, dropping the bottle in the process. " _Que rayos_?!" he glared at the baby, who had quieted down and was curiously staring at him. " _Por que a mi_?! Why did you vomit if you were the one who wanted to eat in the first place?! Great, I'm asking someone who can't even talk! What comes next?!

Much to his dismay, though, his rather unintentionally harsh tone frightened the baby into a wail again; panicking, he looked around for a toy or something he could entertain the brat with. Finally he managed to spot a small plush crocodile-a small gift for the baby from Juan Carlos- and picked it up. "Look, baby!" he shook the plush in front of the baby's crunched up face. "Mister Croc… tooth is saying hi…! Stop crying or I'll faint…! Please…!" Thankfully, the baby's attention fixed on the plush crocodile and he reached out for it, cooing curiously. Zipacna sighed in relief as the baby let out a yawn afterwards. "Yeah, I know how it feels. Wanting to sleep and not being able to."

The baby cooed.

"Oh, you wanna tak? In a few months you will, but until then what am I supposed to do?" Momentarily, Zipacna's playful side took over and the tips of his fingers started tickling the baby's belly. "Huh? What am I going to do?"

Somehow, when the baby smiled and let out gurgles which he interpreted as giggles, his playful side started to come out, and he found himself smiling tiredly. "Oh, so you're ticklish, huh?" he quickened the tickling, and soon he found himself blowing into the baby's belly, making him giggle even more. "How about that?"

The still nameless baby calmed down, and kept staring at his father with the latter's identical green eyes, cooing in delight as he soon let out a yawn, snuggling against his father's embrace seeking his warmth. Zipacna momentarily thought he felt a strange thing in his chest… for some reason he didn't understand, he liked to see the baby happy, he wanted to hold him close and keep him safe from anything, maybe… maybe it wouldn't be that bad, would it…?

NO! What was he thinking? He pushed those feelings away. He didn't want this, he didn't want to look after a brat when he was… well, not exactly in his prime, but he just had so many things he wanted to do! Dating Xochiquétzal being one of them, but that was not the point! He was not Xibalba, damn it! He couldn't look after a child for himself even if he _actually_ wanted to!

"It's time to go to sleep…" he told the child coldly as he lay him back down in the cradle. Thankfully, the baby fell asleep almost immediately without paying him any heed.

As he went back to his bed, Zipacna tried to put his mind back together. Deep down he still hoped everything was just a dream, that he had somehow gotten into a comatose state and he was having nightmares, but a pinch was enough to let him know it was real. This had actually happened, and he was burdened with a product of his carelessness. Though he wasn't glancing at the baby, he could hear him shifting in the cradle and letting out coos.

He couldn't take it any longer. The stress and the anguish overcame him as he hugged his legs, the tears finally making their way down his cheeks as he tried his best to contain sobs.

"This is not happening…" his voice was barely a whisper. "This is just temporary… I'm not a father… I'M NOT A FATHER!" Memories of the nights he spent with all those women came back to him, and he tried to think of who could have gotten him into his mess, apart from himself. There were hundreds of possibilities, hundreds of women whom he could blame for this, but he didn't have any clues, which further frustrated him.

" _Maldita sea la perra que me hizo esto_ …! Abandoning her son to a stranger-!"

Wait…

Abandoned to a stranger… could it be…? Abandoning a baby to a stranger's front door…

It could be his key to freedom…

* * *

Juan Carlos groaned in dismay when he heard the twins crying for the fourth time that night. Marigold shifted, and started to shift awake at the sound of her babies in distress, but Juan Carlos gently pushed her back down against the pillows.

"It's okay, Mari, I will check on them." He told her gently.

" Are you sure? I don't mind…"

"I insist. You've been pushing yourself a bit too hard, you need to rest too."

Marigold smiled at him. "You can really be sweet when you want to."

Juan Carlos returned the smile as he pulled the blanket over her, allowing her to go back to sleep before he left bed and walked out of their bedchambers, walking over to the door across their own, to the nursery. The wailing intensified as he opened the door, and he immediately went over to the shared crib the twins shared. It turned out they preferred to feel the other twin was nearby instead of having their own space; the only disadvantage was that when one cried he awoke the other.

"There, there, it's okay…" Juan Carlos picked both Clara and Kyroc in his arms, bouncing Clara in his right arm while he rocked Kyroc in the other. "Shhh. Don't worry, papi's here. What's wrong?" he sighed when he received no reply. "I can't wait till you learn to talk."

"Me either."

Juan Carlos jumped when he heard Xibalba's voice behind him, to which the dark god chuckled in amusement. He looked tired too, even though Hugo hadn't woken up and continued to nap peacefully in his own cradle. These was the only time Juan Carlos saw his father-in-law's usually perfectly combed and trimmed moustache and beard turned into a puffy, half-tangled mess. And as always, he was clutching his pet, or staff, he didn't know what to call it yet, with his hands.

" _Buenas noches, señor_." Juan Carlos greeted him politely. "What are you doing here?"

"I figured out you would need some help." Xibalba replied, wincing at Kyroc's wailing. "And I wasn't wrong, it seems."

"It's the fourth time tonight, I don't understand what's wrong…"

"They got colic. It's normal for their age, it will cease after they turn three months old."

"How do you know?!"

Xibalba rolled his eyes. "Boy, I went through this with Marigold too, in case you forgot. And Hugo had colic too, remember?"

"So what do I do?" Juan Carlos didn't protest when Xibalba placed his staff aside for the time being andgently took Kyroc in his arms, then he carefully started to rub his grandson's stomach. Shortly after, Kyroc's wailing lowered into sobs, before it stopped altogether.

"Aww, you only needed a bit of rubbing in your little stomach, didn't you, baby?" Xibalba cooed at the baby, earning a small coo, before looking up at Juan Carlos. "You have to rub their stomachs as gently as you can without hurting them. If their wailing recedes, you're doing it right, otherwise they'll cry louder."

Juan Carlos rubbed Clara's stomach like he had seen Xibalba do it, but Clara wailed louder.

"You're rubbing too hard, try to soften it up, and in circles."

Juan Carlos tried again, but this time, Clara's wailing stopped and she snuggled deeply against her father's chest.

"See? It's not that hard. It's recommendable to make them some tea, but the doctor would have to prescribe it first, not all teas are recommendable for babies."

Juan Carlos felt awkward. Xibalba wasn't usually nice to him. "Thanks for the help…"

"Anything for my _nietos_." Xibalba said simply as he tickled Clara's nose, smiling when she giggled. "Oh, yes. You're a cutie, yes you are! Yes you are!"

"Say, _señor_ , do you mind if I ask you something?"

"It depends on what you're going to ask, boy."

"Well…" Juan Carlos's ears drooped, but he gathered the courage to ask. "How exactly did the wager involving my father go? What happened?"

Xibalba grew serious, which made Juan Carlos think he had said something wrong, but the dark god only sighed as he went to gently tuck Kyroc back into the cradle. "You must know by now, but my wife and I were always fond of wagers. We'd bet on anything we thought interesting, even when we grew estranged it was the one thing that kept us together. Anyway, at that moment I missed La Muerte terribly, but at the same time I was sick of living down in the Land of the Forgotten all alone."

Juan Carlos shivered at the mention of the Land of the Forgotten. The few times he had spent down there, he felt depressed and lonely, even if he was accompanied, as if the very realm's atmosphere got into his soul. He didn't want to imagine what it would be like to live there for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years all alone, so he sympathized with his father-in-law in that sense, and partly with Marigold too. She had grown up there, though apparently she was immune to the Land of the Forgotten's gloomy atmosphere.

Xibalba grabbed his staff as he continued. "La Muerte was angry at me, but I convinced her to do another wager. We saw three children, two boys and a girl, playing around the graveyard, so we thought it would be interesting to try and guess who would marry the girl. I chose Joaquín Mondragon, the young boy aspiring to be a strong warrior like his father, while La Muerte chose Manolo Sánchez, the young boy who expressed himself through song despite it going against his family's tradition. Your father." Xibalba sighed. "If I won, I would control the Land of the Remembered. If La Muerte won, I would never mess with humans again."

"Eventually, María was sent to Spain by her good-for-nothing father, but we watched Sánchez and Mondragon as they grew into handsome young men. I had given Joaquín the Medal of Everlasting Life, and so he turned into a successful soldier, but I think you've heard of that. I soon realized I chose wrong, Manolo Sánchez was winning María's heart."

"I was desperate to win, and my biggest flaw was that I always tried to the scales to my favor."

Juan Carlos rolled his eyes. "Cheating, you mean."

"Yeah, sort of. Anyway, that's when all of the fiasco started. Your father must already have told you the rest in the manner of a bedtime story for this, right?"

"Sort of. He said you sent your…" Juan glanced at the staff. "…Pet to kill him so tío Joaquín would marry María. Then he travelled all the way to the Land of the Forgotten to find La Muerte to expose you, and you made a bet-"

"Yeah, that, I'd be grateful if you don't remind me of that." Xibalba didn't want to remember the biggest humiliation he ever had, being beaten in his own game by a _human_. Sure, he was impressed, but he was also embarrassed.

"Is that why you don't like my father? Because he beat you fair-and-square?"

Xibalba turned away, muttering under his breath, but nevertheless he answered. "I've never been a good loser, I'm afraid. Especially against humans, It's a matter of pride, boy. It was the first time I had been beaten by a _mere mortal_. Losing against my own wife is one thing, but against a puny human? That's the last straw!"

"I think by now you should have seen humans are not puny. I mean, you've seen how far we are willing to go for the ones we love."

"Yeah, I've noticed." Xibalba glanced at his son-in-law. "If you killed yourself to find my baby despite knowing I could have easily sent you to the Land of the Cursed, you must have something you can't find in humans these days."

"Courage and determination?"

"I was going to say recklessness and stupidity, but that works too."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Take it as you wish, boy." Surprisingly, Xibalba smiled at him. Not a cynical or mocking smile, but a genuine one.

Clara opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of one of Ponzoña's heads in her grandfather's hands, and soon she was reaching out for it, cooing curiously. "Oh, no, Clarita, you don't know when that snake might bite you."

Xibalba rolled his eyes, but smiled. "He wouldn't bite kids even if I wanted him to."

Maybe this wasn't so bad.


	7. Cold Veins and Warm Tears

It was done.

Zipacna tried not to look back as he made his way through the forest, and away from the place he had left the kid. Yet there was something inside him begging him, no, _screaming_ at him to turn back and retrieve the baby, but he forced himself not to. He would be better cared, better attended and overall those people would actually want a kid. Childless couples usually would look after abandoned children to make up for not being able to copulate themselves… But soon these ideas were replaced by other types of questions and worries. Would they notice the baby's future unusual abilities? Would the village children accept him? Would he be well-nourished-?

Zipacna shook those ideas out of his mind. He shouldn't care, it wasn't his problem anymore. The sky had darkened, not only because of the nighttime, but also because of the storm clouds gathering above him. The more he tried to get all those thoughts away from his head, the more they resurfaced and rooted even deeper. What would Xibalba said when he noticed the baby was gone? Marigold? La Muerte? Everyone, what would they think.

What would his mother have thought…?

 _ARGH! STOP IT!_

Zipacna fell like an idiot for talking with himself. A drop of water fell on his head, and it became many as the rain was unleashed from the sky, leaving Zipacna soaking wet. However, the worrying thoughts returned when the heavy downpour fell unto him. He hadn't stayed to make sure someone had actually opened the door and found the baby. They must have opened the door… right? They must be home…!

Zipacna stopped in his tracks. He did knock the door, they must have heard it… didn't they? M-Maybe… Well, it wouldn't hurt to go and calm himself down by showing himself that the baby was now inside the house, with a warm blanket… right? Zipacna cursed himself as he turned around, heading through the woods and towards the house. A thunder roared, and his pace quickened, eventually turning into a raven to fly the fastest he could in that climate.

When he came to the house, the lights inside were out, which meant that no one was home, or they had gone to sleep. But he didn't care about the lights, he instantly went towards the door….

The baby was soaking wet, wrapped in the cold, soaked blanked, breathing rapidly and raspily.

Zipacna didn't have time to let out a gasp as he changed back into his normal form, staring at the baby in horror. He quickly took him into his arms; he was freezing cold and trembling.

Nonononono!

He didn't know much about babies, but he did know that if they weren't at the right temperature they could get ill, or worse. In this case the baby could die of hypothermia if he didn't do something fast. But who could he go to…?

* * *

Xibalba stirred awake when he heard a frantic knocking on his door. He tried to go back to sleep, but the constant, loud knocking brought him out of his slumber. It took him a while to become aware of his surroundings; La Muerte was contently asleep, though surprisingly Hugo was awake, just cooing and moving his little arms around in his wife's embrace, trying to wake her up. Soon the knocking awoke La Muerte, and her eyelids slowly slid open.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Xibalba muttered, reluctantly sitting up in bed and stretching out his wings, feeling a few articulations snap in relief.

La Muerte lay back down, stroking Hugo's cheek tenderly. "It's _your_ castle, Balby."

Xibalba glanced at his wife in disbelief. "But…!" it was too late, La Muerte had fallen back asleep, holding Hugo closer with a triumphant smirk on her face. Still, he made his way out of bed and towards his door as the knocking increased in desperation and speed. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" with another growl, he opened the door. "This better be impor-!"

He froze when he found Zipacna, soaked to the bone, his eyes bloodshot and his son in his hands, pale and trembling-wait, what?!

" _Hermanito_ , it's an emergency!" Zipacna whispered in a tone or urgency and horror.

The sight immediately woke Xibalba enough to react like he usually would. "What did you do this time?!" He took the baby in his arms, growing alarmed when he felt him trembling, and breathing with great difficulty. He touched his forehead, and he was ice cold, almost close to the point of hypothermia. "What have you done?!"

"I-I… I just… I d-didn't want to…!"

Xibalba had to close the door behind him as he stepped out of the room, then he cast a sound-proof bubble spell to keep his yelling from awakening his wife and son. "WHAT?! ZIPACNA, YOU DIDN'T WHAT?!

Zipacna couldn't bear it anymore, and he retorted with a yell of his own. "I LEFT HIM AT ADOORSTEP, BUT IT STARTED TO RAIN AND I DIDN'T STAY TO SEE IF THEY OPENED THE DOOR! WHEN I WENT BACK HE WAS DRENCHED IN WATER!"

"YOU DID WHAT? Demonios, Zipacna, he's ice cold! We have to take him to Toci, NOW!"

Knowing Asclepius was probably not available at that hour, Xibalba teleported himself to Aztlan, followed by Zipacna just in front of Toci's door. At that hour everyone was asleep, but the silence was broken by the loud knocking on Toci's door. A rather tired-looking goddess opened the door, looking up at Xibalba and Zipacna in irritation. "What is it?" but when she saw the state the baby in Xibalba's arms was in, she realized what was going on.

"See if you can save him!" Xibalba said with a tone of urgency, handing over the baby to her as he glared at Zipacna. "Save my NEPHEW!" As soon as Toci had closed the door, he turned to face his older brother with a great fury. "HOW COULD YOU?!"

"I WAS DESPERATE! HE WAS DRIVING ME NUTS!"

"DON'T YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU DID?!"

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IT WAS GOING TO RAIN OR THAT THEY WOULDN'T OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"

"IF SOMETHINGS HAPPENS TO HIM, YOU WILL BE ACCUSED! HOW COULD YOU?!" Xibalba had to stop momentarily to regain his breath, before hissing. "He is a _baby_ , Zipacna!"

"I didn't do anything! I just figured he would be better somewhere else!"

"BETTER SOMEWHERE ELSE?!" Again, he bottled up his anger, but the seriousness and disappointment remained. "Zipacna, don't you realize even _now_ what could have happened? You don't take responsibility for _your_ actions?!"

"YOU THINK I WANTED THIS TO HAPPEN?!" Zipacna was close to tears of frustration by then. "I NEVER WANTED HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE! I WAS FINE UNTIL HE CAME ALONG-"

 ***SMACK** *

Zipacna didn't expect the slap. He didn't expect his brother's palm coming into contact with his cheek with a great strength that nearly sent him to the floor. He realized what had happened when he felt the following burning sensation in his cheek from the pain. Xibalba glared at him with great anger, his teeth sharp and his pupils glancing forward in fury.

"YOU… YOU IDIOT!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, not caring if he woke all of Aztlan up. "You hay have not wanted this, but you have no choice! JUST ADMIT IT TO YOURSELF ONCE AND FOR ALL! You are no better than…. " Xibalba spat the last ord acidly. "HIM!"

Zipacna hadn't replied. He was frozen, staring at the floor with drooped ears, but when he heard the comparison between him and… _Akrinok_ … that nearly did it.

"Did you like when he didn't acknowledge you as his son?! Did you?!

"I know it was a stupid thing, okay?!" Zipacna finally said, growling and his eyes glowing in anger directed at himself. "I didn't know what to do! I'm _not_ ready to be a father!" his back slid against the wall, and soon he was siting on the floor, taking his hands to his head. "You were right, okay?! I can't even look after myself, how am I supposed to look after a child?!"

"Well, you have no choice, Zipacna." Xibalba said, softly this time, though the seriousness was still there. "Don't let that kid slip out of your hands. He might as well be the best thing that happened to you."

"How can you say that when I didn't even know he existed until a few weeks ago? I didn't plan out things like you! I'm not even married, for goodness sake!"

Xibalba raised a questioning eyebrow. "You think Marigold was planned? You think Hugo was planned? You think the baby La Muerte is carrying right now was meticulously planned? Those things hit me hard as well when I found out."

"But you were married, it was bound to happen."

"Maybe, but nobody forced _you_ to do what you did. This happened because you were always going around bedding women, it was bound to happen sometime."

"What can I do about it? It's in my nature."

Xibalba raised an eyebrow again.

"Come on, you used to be like that too!" Zipacna flinched when his brother frowned deeply. "Well, only with one single woman, but you were!"

"In case you forgot, it wasn't my intention. I was tricked, it's different. But this is not about me, it's about the baby."

"I panicked, okay?! He didn't stop crying, he was driving me _loco in the coco_! You should know about it! You had a kid, you have Hugo and there's another on the way!"

"Babies cry, Zipacna. It's normal for the,, you only have to deal with it. And I _do_ know how you feel. I was alone as well, I didn't want to take responsibility at first either, but… Something happens between you and the baby, and then you see it like it's the most valuable treasure in the world. That baby might not have been made out of love, but…" Xibalba sighed. "You might not love him now, but I am sure he does. He knows you are his dad, and he's counting on you."

Zipacna chuckled humorlessly. "You know, sometimes it's no wonder why they think you're older than me."

"Zipacna, get over it. You took care of _me_ when I was small."

"It was different! I didn't engender you… as awkward as it sounds. You didn't appear out of nowhere!"

"We all come out of nowhere if you ask me."

"Okay, I got the message… I think…" Zipacna rubbed his cheek, still sore over the slap from a few seconds ago. "Ow… You'd do good at boxing."

"You deserved it." Xibalba was unamused. "Though it did feel good, I relieved some stress. Maybe you should come over more often."

"Stress? What are you complaining about? I haven't had a decent sleep for three days, more, I think!"

"I could slap you again and knock you out, if you wish." Xibalba teasingly stated, fixing his glove.

"No thank you! I don't want you to ruin my handsome face."

"So, what will you do now?"

"For now, cross my fingers the baby won't die…"

"Good, because if he does it'll be your fault."

"I guess I truly have _no_ choice. I _will_ have to look after him."

"Yes, but don't worry. You can still rely on me, ask me anything you want to know, if you will for whom you'll look after."

Finally, the door creaked open and Toci walked out. Almost immediately, Xibalba and Zipacna flew towards her with worried expressions. "How is he?!" Xibalba was the first to ask.

"He nearly died of hypothermia." Toci said, glancing at Zipacna. "Thankfully you emanate so much heat it warmed him up."

"Me?" Zipacna asked. "Will he be okay?"

"You've been living in the Land of the cursed for so long your body absorbed the head. He will be okay, but he needs intensive care."

"Thank goodness… OW!" Zipacna yelped at the smack he received from Toci.

"That was irresponsible on your part!" she hissed, frowning.

"Yes… I know that…"

Both Xibalba and Toci had been expecting a excuse to pin the blame on someone else, but that single reply caught them by surprise. "You do?"

Zipacna nodded. "Toci, can I… go in there?"

The old goddess sighed, nodding. "Very well, but don't wake him up."

"I won't. Thanks for everything…" he glanced at his younger brother. "Thanks for the slap."

For the first time at that moment, Xibalba smiled a bit. "Anytime."

Zipacna walked into Toci's bedchambers, all filled with special herbs, healing potions and other substances of unknown origin but which healed different ailments, and on the couch he found a small basket made of leaves, inside the basket he found the baby. His breathing was no longer raspy, but he was still trembling. Zipacna sat down on the couch and gently grabbed the baby's little hand, feeling it still freezing cold. But he made his best not to wake him up.

"Mijo…" he whispered sadly, his eyes swelling up with tears of regret. "I'm so sorry… You didn't deserve this…"

The baby shifted in his sleep when he heard his voice.

"My boy… My son…" just then , he realized he had not named the baby just yet, and it felt awkward to just refer to him as 'boy', 'son' and 'kiddo'. "Well, kiddo, please don't kill me for this in my sleep… But my mamá once told me that if she would have had another boy, she would have named him… Do you think you could get used to being called Algner?"

He laughed humorlessly when the baby… when _Algner_ smiled in his sleep.

"Well, I'll take it as a yes…" much to Zipacna's surprise, Algner's little hand grabbed unto his index finger, and didn't let go of it. "Indeed…" He gently took Algner in his arms, managing to hold him properly this time. "I promise you… Nothing will ever happen to you… Not as long as I live…"

Algner snuggled deeply into his father embrace looking for warmth. Zipacna noticed, and wrapped his wings around the two of them as he started to emanate a low heat, enough to keep him warm. Algner soon settled down, falling asleep in his father's arms, who kept staring at him before following him into the realm of Morpheus…

* * *

He was brought out from sleep by a strange sensation on his snout. Instinctively, his sore wings spread out, and instantly sunlight coming from the nearby windows forced him to open his eyes. His ears twitched at the sound of giggles and gurgles which he found very familiar… Reluctantly, Zipacna opened his eyes, and his eyes started to adjust to the light.

"What?" he whispered with a yawn. Soon he found Algner staring at him curiously. "Oh, good morning Algner…"

 _?!_

It took him a few more seconds to process what was going on. Algner was warm, moving and alert, and he didn't have any signs of illness…

"Thank goodness you're alright!" Zipacna was back on his feet in a matter of seconds, twirling the baby around, earning funny gurgles and squeals of delight. The feeling in his chest was growing in intensity at the sight of his son being happy. He leaned in his face closer, smiling teasingly. "What have you done to me? Could you give me this love potion ,because it really worked on me." He planted a kiss on Algner's forehead, earning another gurgle. "We're going to have so much fun, kiddo! Just don't get that hard on your dear old papa, okay?"

Algner gave a big yawn as he took his fingers to his mouth.

"I got the feeling you would like some warm milk, right?" But he hadn't really paid attention when La Muerte gave that ridiculously detailed explanation about making a proper formula, and he didn't remember most of it other than boiling water and mixing. Just then, Toci walked into the room, apparently having spent the night somewhere else to give him some privacy.

"How is he doing?" she asked, though judging by Algner's happy gurgling, she could tell he was better.

"As you can see, much better thanks to you." Zipacna said, sighing in relief as he continued to bounce Algner.

Toci caught the shameful air to his expression, however. She was always very sharp about those things. "If he's alright, what's the matter?"

"That's all that matters, that he's alright." Zipacna simply said, before looking over at her. "And Xibalba? Did he go back to his realm?"

"He went back to check on La Muerte, and apparently she's got a bit of temperature. It's normal in the early stages of pregnancy sometimes, but you can imagine how he reacted."

"Considering he thought her dead all these years and it turned out she was only in a comatose state because of her nutso sister, may she rest in peace, I think it's normal."

"He's afraid, that's all."

"Why wouldn't he? I mean, with the upcoming baby and all that." Zipacna looked down at Algner. "Did you hear that? In a few months you'll have a playmate… There's Hugo and the twins, but they're a bit older than you, just don't turn out to be that much like me, please!" He snickered when Algner gurgled in delight. "Say, Toci, is there anything else about him that I should worry about? You know, any special attention or something? After what happened…"

"Just don't abandon him at another doorstep again." Toci frowned. "But you should be careful with water, I have the feeling he won't want to be near it again."

"Don't worry, I don't think I'll let him go that easily now."

Thanking Toci one last time, Zipacna disappeared in a burst of ash and crow feathers, reappearing back in his own chambers. But as he took a look around, suddenly he found it too…. Messy. He didn't know why, he had lived like this for centuries and never minded, but now when he looked at it, he didn't know… he wasn't comfortable with it anymore, Algner could get lost in that disaster and get hurt….

Oh.

"Algner, welcome home, _mijo_." Zipacna whispered, carefully making his way to his bed, and accommodated a few pillows to place Algner in, though he made sure he wouldn't roll over and suffocate, like La Muerte had told him. Soon Algner's little eyes closed, and gave tiny snores as his fins unconsciously twitched. Zipacna smiled at him and fidgeted with his white tuft of hair.

"Sleep well… my son."

Something in his night desk caught his eye. The book Xibalba had given him about how to be a father and look after children was still there, untouched. He had never like to read, but maybe there was something in that book that could lend him a hand later on… and he could finally prove to Xibalba he _could_ read.

Sighing, Zipacna opened the book on the first page an started to read.


	8. Zipacna's Change

Xibalba couldn't sleep in all night. In between a combination of his worry for La Muerte and the baby, and his nephew's wellbeing. He was worried about what Zipacna was going to do now. La Muerte asked him what was wrong, but he told her Algner had gotten fever overnight and he had to accompany Zipacna to take him to Toci. Thankfully, she made no further questions, though he could tell she suspected something else had happened. Hopefully, the baby would be okay… Speaking of which, he was wondering when Zipacna would bother to name him.

Next morning, Xibalba and La Muerte arrived at the latter's castle, where as always there was a warm welcome committee for La Muerte. She had to hand over Hugo to his father for a while so she could talk to the Remembered, particularly those who had arrived while she was comatose. Xibalba tried to be patient, but unfortunately, Hugo wasn't that much patient.

"It's okay, _mi niño_." La Muerte stroked Hugo's cheek tenderly as he reached out his hands for her. "Mami will be back in a few minutes." She glanced at Xibalba. "Could you go on ahead, Balby? I'll catch up in a while."

Xibalba sighed, but still he smiled. "Okay, _mi amor_ , you enjoy the company of…" he glanced at the spirits around them. "… the multitude." He had to keep himself from referring to the spirits as ' _chusma'_ , or there would be trouble. As La Muerte continued to talk with the spirits, even kneeling down so she could hear them properly, Xibalba walked down the colorful corridor that would lead into the throne room. Hugo stared at the colorful ivory pillars and the rains of confetti, miraculously not looking around for his mother's _sombrero_ for the time being.

"Wait till your _hermanito_ is born, Hugo." Xibalba chuckled. Partly, he was glad he didn't have to deal with _all_ of the realm's problems anymore. As he walked into the throne room, he spotted Marigold and Juan Carlos already on one of the chairs, thankfully Kyroc and Clara had apparently decided to give their parents a break, and were calmly accepting their mashed apples.

"Buenos días, sweetie." Xibalba smiled at his daughter. " _Buenos días_ , Juan Carlos." He sighed in dismay. " _Buenos días_ , Zipacna."

Oddly, Marigold looked at him as if he were mad. "Um, papá, _tío_ Zipacna isn't here."

Xibalba blinked in surprise. "What?"

"He isn't here, _señor_." Juan Carlos confirmed. "We have not seen him in all morning."

"Are you sure? He's usually here at this hour, stuffing on the food."

"We haven't heard from him since yesterday, do you know if something happened?"

Xibalba coughed uncomfortably. "Well… Algner got ill, and…"

"Ill? Is he okay?"

"Well, it's normal that newborn babies get a little fever sometimes…"

"Papá, are you okay?" Marigold noticed her father had gotten nervous out of sudden.

"Oh, I'm okay, my sweet. Why do you ask?"

"You're sweating."

"It's h-hot!" Xibalba laughed nervously, wiping some sweat off his brow. "Come on, my dear…! It's not like your _tío_ did anything reckless or something!"

"Um… If you say so…"

Xibalba took a seat in the table, and grabbed some hard eggs, along with some French toast and orange juice. After Kyroc and Clara had eaten, Juan Carlos and Marigold could join the older god in breakfast.

A few moments later, La Muerte finally walked into the throne room. As soon as Hugo caught her scent, he started to squeal and look around, waving his hands.

"It's okay, _mi niño_." She gently took Hugo from his father's arms, giggling when he instantly clung to her. "Mami's here…"

"And tío's still missing…" Xibalba muttered, glancing at the door worriedly.

"Xibalba, why are you so worried?" Juan Carlos asked.

"By this hour, he's usually here stuffing on the food. The fact that he's not here could mean that something happened."

"Or maybe he overslept." La Muerte pointed out. "If he had to look after his son all night, it's natural he'd fall asleep."

"Zipacna would never miss breakfast here, my dear. I think something else happened."

"In that case, why don't you go take a look?" Juan Carlos suggested. "I mean, I don't think there's something to worry about, but if you're so worried it wouldn't hurt."

"I guess you're right this once, kiddo." Xibalba sighed in dismay as he stood up. He was looking forward to eating something, but he couldn't let Zipacna do yet another stupid thing. "I'll be back in a while."

Sadly, though, the rest of the family was a bit too busy for the time being, and they replied with nods. Xibalba clutched his staff as he teleported into his brother's castle, and as usual he felt a shudder at the sudden rise of the temperature. However, he felt something was… different. He didn't know how to explain it, it looked exactly the same, but something made it feel different. Clutching his staff tightly, Xibalba elegantly strode through the corridors towards Zipacna's bedroom. One of the imps that worked for him was passing by, and he looked exhausted.

"Good evening." Xibalba said politely. "Is Lord Zipacna here?"

The imp nodded. "Yes, but he is asleep. Please do not make too much noise, he was awake all night."

"All night? Doing what?"

"Reading."

That surprised him. Zipacna? Read? It didn't convince him, he had the feeling it was some sort of excuse, it wasn't the first time Zipacna asked the imps to invent whatever they thought of when he didn't want any disturbs. Thanking the imp, Xibalba continued towards his brother's room, and as soon as he was in front of the doors he knocked the door gently, loud enough for his brother to hear.

"Zipacna?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

No reply.

"Zipacna, you're in here?"

Silence. Xibalba hesitated, but finally he opened the door, but when he walked inside he nearly thought he was in the wrong room. He could see the floor, and it was impeccably clean. All the magazines were gone, and the books were organized in the bookshelf, the bed was neatly made, and the baby was peacefully asleep in between some carefully accommodated pillows. Zipacna was lay down a few inches away on the bed, his wings spread out, he looked pretty exhausted too. Everything around in his bedroom was in place.

Xibalba wondered if he hadn't had enough sleep last night from so much worry, or if this was Zipacna's idea of a prank. He closed the door and opened it again, but everything remained in place. Zipacna's ear twitched at the sound of his door, and reluctantly he stirred awake, his wings stretching out. When his vision cleared, he found Xibalba on the doorway, baffled.

"What?" he asked. "Say something."

"Zipacna, what happened?" Xibalba was looking around in confusion. "Everything's…"

"Clean and neat?"

"Yeah, that."

Zipacna stood up. "After a second look, my room was too much dirty. Algner could have taken something dirty into his mouth, or swallowed it."

"Who?" However, he only had to glance at the baby to realize who he was referring to. "Wait… you named him?"

"His name is Algner."

Xibalba had to admit it, he was impressed by the feat. It was a pretty good name, too. "So, is he better now?"

"Thankfully, he is. Say, what brings you here so early?"

"Well, since you didn't show up to have breakfast, I thought something had happened."

Surprisingly, Zipacna leaned against the wall, frowning. "What? You think that because I did not show up to gobble up La Muerte's food I did something?"

"Well…" Xibalba noticed his brother was unusually… serious. "Since you had never missed it…"

"Well, since you're here, you could lend me a hand."

"A hand? With what?"

"See, I cleaned up my room but I still have to clean up my study, and there are too many dangerous things around here I have to fix."

"You want me to help you… clean?"

"Yes. Why do you look at me like that?"

Xibalba was baffled. One didn't speak the words 'cleaning' and Zipacna' in the same sentence. "err… I'm sorry, it's just… Well, you're not fond of cleaning."

"I'm not, but it had to be done. But it'll be easier if a certain brother of mine who from what I can tell has nothing to do for the time being would lend me a hand, since I cannot leave Algner alone this soon after he just recovered from a potentially mortal mistake I made."

Xibalba blinked in surprise. "Zipacna, are you sure you're okay?"

"I am, now if you'll excuse me…" Zipacna gently picked Algner from the bed. "I'll go ahead and make sure those imps didn't poison Algner's formula."

Xibalba just watched as his brother left the room, completely in shock over what he had just witnessed. He wondered if he hadn't punched Zipacna too hard and moved something inside his brain. Or what had happened really got to him, and he finally reacted. He was hoping it was the latter case. Xibalba smiled, shaking his head as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

They spent all morning cleaning up Zipacna's study, and for the first time the Lord of the Cursed could say he was proud of himself. It took a while to accommodate all the pending paperwork, then to take all the empty pizza boxes and other leftovers aside to be incinerated later, and after an hour they could see the floor-clear of discarded papers and rubbish-again, it had been so long since they saw it. Soon, it was almost as organized as Xibalba's study, though Zipacna still had a few of his prints there, such as a small table to place his food.

Much to Xibalba's surprise, though, the cleaning operation didn't end there. In fact, the rest of their little operation wasn't even cleaning. Rather, it looked more like a remodeling session. With some awkward help from the imps, they put on a fencing on every single stairway, soft corner protectors on all the sharp furniture (which included the decorative armors and the tips of their spears), and two spells were cast. One to regulate the temperature inside the castle, and another to prevent the screaming of the Cursed Souls from scaring the heck out of Algner. All in all, it took them three hours to finish all the operations. All that while, Zipacna kept Algner close, and they had to stop a few times to feed him or change his diaper.

By the end of that time, Xibalba was exhausted; he hadn't had any breakfast, and he had the feeling Zipacna hadn't either, since he looked like he would starve at any moment. The two of them took a well-deserved break with some cold… orange juice in the living room.

"If you keep staring at me like that, I think I'll put a paper bag on my face." Zipacna pointed out, taking a sip, rocking Algner on his other arm.

"Sorry, it's just… well…" Xibalba took a few more seconds to respond. "You're… different."

"In what sense?"

"Well, for starters, you're drinking juice instead of wine."

"What? I can't be drunk around Algner, what example would I give him?" Zipacna simply said.

"Oh, so now you care about what he could learn from you?"

"Yes. I mean, I wouldn't like him turning up like me…" Zipacna decided to change the topic. "Say, think you could give me some obsidian? I really need to make sure he won't fall into the lava when he starts crawling."

"Sure, I got some spare obsidian I could give to you…"

"Hey, are you okay? You look a bit down."

Xibalba sighed sadly. "Well… I miss Marigold."

"That's no surprise, considering she's got kids of her own and lives above."

"Well, that's the problem… She's been very busy with the twins, and we haven't had time to spend together like before. I'm happy for her, but at the same time I…"

"Have you talked about it with La Muerte?"

"I want to, but I don't want to worry her in her state…"

"Come on, she won't lose the baby just for hearing you out."

"About that…"

Zipacna noticed something was bothering him. "Hey, Xibalba… Are you worried about the new baby?"

"I'm afraid… What if something happens again…? I don't know if I could go through that again…"

"Come on, Xibalba. I don't think another nutso will come and try to kill her, right?"

"No, but…"

"Then why are you worried? You'll see, you two are going to have a beautiful baby…. Has La Muerte had her prediction on the baby's gender already?"

Xibalba shook his head. "No, no. As far as I know, the baby won't even have a gender until a bit later."

"Would you like a boy or a girl?"

"Honestly, I would be happy with either, but…"

"But?"

"I hope we have a little boy."

Zipacna raised an eyebrow curiously. "You have Hugo."

"Yes, but he is not La Muerte's child."

"If you repeat it in front of her, she'll have you sleep on the couch."

Xibalba chuckled. "I know that. Hey, how's Algner doing, by the way? I can see you're more attached to him."

"Good. Turns out he did have a few other habits from me." Zipacna chuckled, fidgeting with Algner's tuft of hair. Algner gurgled in his sleep, wagging his tail lightly. "See? He wags his tail when he's happy."

"I'm glad you two seem to be getting along."

"It wasn't as bad now, at least I can tell when he wants to eat or wants his diaper changed."

Xibalba smiled. "Told ya. Something happens between you and the baby, and then he becomes the center of your world." Suddenly, he felt his stomach growling. "Hey, Zipacna, how about we go and have something to eat at the Land of the Remembered? I didn't have breakfast and I have the feeling you didn't either, did you?

Zipacna felt his stomach growl and let out a chuckle. "As a matter of fact, I didn't since we spent all morning cleaning. It's harder without Camazok, but I'm glad he and his father made up." He stood up, accommodating Algner gently in his arms. "Sides, I think Hugo will need to get used to the idea of sharing his mommy when his baby brother is born, anyway."

Xibalba chuckled as he returned to his feet. "Well, _hermano_ , let's go before we both faint out of hunger."

"Don't exaggerate."

The both of them shared a good laugh, which Algner seemed to want to mimic as suddenly the corners of his little mouth started curving upwards. Zipacna chuckled one last time before both he and Xibalba teleported away.


	9. Fatherhood

**Everybody, I mentioned in the summary that this story is co-written with Neagoieolivia. That means she gives her own ideas to the story, and I write them down in it. She also helps with certain dialogues, and info regarding certain subjects, in this case, baby handling.**

* * *

Unfortunately, events that happened in Aztlan rarely remained a secret. Either because of someone's tongue slipping, or someone overhearing something from behind a door or wall, soon the whole pantheon knew about it. There were certain matters, though, that although not necessarily a secret, could only be known by two certain gods, at least temporally until they decided what was best to do.

Toci had no other choice but to inform them of what had happened with Zipacna's son.

"Is the child alright?" Quetzalcóatl had asked. The child's wellbeing was above everything.

"Apparently, the warmth of Zipacna's body saved his life. But he was very delicate when Xibalba and Zipacna brought him."

"What happened afterwards?"

"When the baby got better, Zipacna left with him. When I asked Xibalba if he knew anything about the baby, he said he was much better. He also said the baby's name is Algner."

"Algner…" Tezcatlipoca repeated.

Quetzalcóatl nodded. "You may go, Toci."

With a polite bow, Toci retired in a swirl of green leaves. Quetzalcóatl stood up from his throne and headed towards the window, thinking.

"Zipacna has really done it this time." Tezcatlipoca shook his head. "Endangering his own child's life."

"A child he had out of wedlock…" Quetzalcóatl added. He knew Zipacna liked to sleep around with lots of women, so it wasn't really a surprise. He wasn't surprised either by the fact Zipacna had tried to avoid responsibility again by trying to leave the child to someone else.

"I wonder who the mother is." Tezcatlipoca pointed out. "Think it's someone from the pantheon?"

"I doubt it, if that were the case she would have come to us for assistance. Besides, Zipacna's taste doesn't stick to goddesses, he could have bedded a spirit."

"Think we should intervene? After what happened, we should take the child and give him to someone more… responsible."

"Indeed we could, but…" Quetzalcóatl thought for a moment. "…"

"What are you thinking, brother?"

"Perhaps… we could keep an eye close on Zipacna, but Xibalba did say he had changed his behavior considerably."

"You don't seriously think he's changed, do you?"

"I cannot assure it without proof, but it could be. This could be a good chance for him to become more responsible now that we're on it. If what Xibalba said is true, for now he has changed his… habits for the child's welfare."

"If Xibalba, who knows him better than anyone, says so…" Tezcatlipoca had his doubts, however. "I still think it's not a good idea."

"I understand your concern, we know Zipacna's attempts at changing have never gone… well. But he'll never change is we just let him get away with it forever."

"So we'll keep an eye on him, then?"

"For now. Then we test him."

Tezcatlipoca blinked. "Test him? How?"

"Test if he's responsible enough to take care of his son, _and_ his realm. The Land of the Cursed is not suitable for children, and Zipacna knows it. We have to make sure the child will be safe in his hands."

Tezcatlipoca thought for a moment. A few moments later, his furry lips turned upwards in a small grin. "I think I have an idea…"

* * *

Two days passed.

He still wasn't sure he could, but he had to do it, he just couldn't leave Algner dirty for the rest of this life just because he didn't like water. After what… nearly happened, he wasn't sure he wanted to get Algner close to water ever again, but it was a basic need. He considered asking La Muerte for help, but she had to rest because of her pregnancy and Xibalba was looking after both her and Hugo. His imps were out of the question, and he guessed Marigold and Juan Carlos were too busy with their own children to be bothered.

It took Zipacna a while, but he managed to fill the bathtub with water, and he reread the bathing part of the book before managing to get the water at a right temperature. He had read how newborn babies were bathed, he had to admit it was even more different than he originally thought. He had to bundle Algner on a extremely soft cotton blanket, supposedly to keep him warm. He was nervous, what if he did something wrong?

Carefully, Zipacna stepped into the bathtub and slowly sat down, shivering when he felt the warm water. He preferred cool water, but Algner needed this exact temperature. He made sure to hold in a way he'd feel safe, but the challenging part would be to clean him up without dropping him in the water.

"Okay, Algner, try not to move much while papi 'tickles' you…" Zipacna sighed in dismay, lowering Algner enough so that the tip of his tail was touching the water. " _Hopefully he won't drown_ …"

However, as soon as Algner's tail had touched the water, he started to wail, prompting Zipacna to quickly lift him off the water. Thankfully, the water didn't evaporate despite the temperature. He had the feeling Algner would start evaporating the water in a few months, when the thermal body temperature thing kicked in. He wondered how Xibalba had done it when Marigold was a baby, but then again, Xibalba was more patient in these kind of things. As he tried to dip Algner into the water, he started to wail again.

"Come on, it's just water!" Zipacna protested, trying and failing again to get Algner into the water. "What's wrong…?" He wondered how things would get when Algner learned to teleport in a few months.

But then again… It would be natural that Algner didn't like water, after what happened. It must have been pretty traumatizing on Algner's point of view. Maybe that was the problem, he needed to show him this water would not kill him.

"Don't worry, _pequeño_. I won't let you go again, we're taking the bath together, remember?" Zipacna said gently, scooping a bit of water in his hand and poured it on his snout. "See? It won't kill you, it's very warm." He wondered if Algner had managed to see that with his limited vision. Only one way to find out.

Warily, Zipacna lowered Algner into the bathtub, just enough so that the tip of his tail touched the water. This time, however, Algner merely let out a whimper and shifted in his father's hold before calming down. "Shh, It's okay, bebé. Daddy won't let you sink in." Sighing in relief, Zipacna lowered Algner's lower body into the water, again receiving a whimper and some protests, but thankfully soon Algner quieted down.

With Algner contently calm, Zipacna started wiping his little body with some soap, careful not to hurt him with his claws. He had a little trouble with the neck, everytime he tried to wash there Algner would start to wiggle in discomfort, he remembered the book saying it was a sensitive part for babies. He had a little trouble washing his wings without accidentally hurting them. He knew by reading, and anecdotes from when Marigold was a baby, that babies' wings were very fragile and sensitive.

"Okay, Algner, I know you are sensitive there, but it's not that bad." He wondered if he could help him in getting used to the water. "Hey, I noticed you're ticklish in the neck." Zipacna grinned playfully, and he gently started to tickle Algner's neck with a finger. Algner started to gurgle, he interpreted them as giggles. Soon after, Algner even got interested in the water, he'd dip his hands into it and try and grab it, only to coo in disappointment when the water scurried from his grasp.

"No, Algner, I'm afraid you can't do that. But look at what daddy can do!" Zipacna placed Algner on his lap, covering him with the warm cotton cloth, and allowing him to look at the water. Holding him with a hand, Zipacna put his other hand on the surface of the water and heated it up, not too much, only enough to make some bubbles.

It seemingly worked, considering Algner's bewildered but curious face as he reached out for the bubbles.

"Like it, baby?"

He got a small coo as a response, he guessed it was a positive one. After this, he continued with the bath.

Finally, when he was certain there was not a single trace of soap left in Algner's body, Zipacna made it out of the bathtub, and quickly grabbed Algner's towel to wrap him in it. He made sure the air of his room was warm enough before stepping out, then he took a look inside the drawers to take out a small blue baby suit.

"Oh, yeah, you'll look so handsome in this one." He dressed Algner up, and it wasn't long before he noticed Algner's sleepy face, confirmed by his yawn. "Aww, you got sleepy after the bat? I often get sleepy too, you know."

With a snap of his fingers, Zipacna summoned a bottle filled with warm formula, and accommodated Algner in his embrace, touching his lips with the teat of the bottle to let him know it was time to eat. Algner latched unto the teat and suckled instinctively.

As he watched Algner eating, he wondered if he understood the words said to him. He wished to know what was on the child's mind, he would know what he wanted and it would be easier, but at the same time, he couldn't believe what he was going to say, but it would be much less interesting.

He thought about paying a visit to the Land of the Remembered, after all they were surely worried about his state. Shrugging, Zipacna wrapped Algner in his blue blankie in case he would fall asleep, and when he was certain the little one was comfortable enough, he teleported to the dining room of La Muerte's castle in a swirl of black feathers, scaring the bones out of some of the Remembered. He guessed La Muerte was there, she had quite the appetite when she was pregnant, and he wasn't wrong. La Muerte and Marigold were on the table, chatting while having some tasty _atole_ as a drink. He approached their edge of the table, intending to say hello, but when La Muerte set his eyes on him he instantly knew he was in trouble. Xibalba had probably told her what really happened, and of course she wasn't happy, he knew how much she loved children and became a beast when it came to defending them.

Marigold watched in surprise as her mother went to Zipacna's side in a small storm of flower petals, and as soon as she had changed back she grabbed his feathery ear and pulled it down, making him flinch in pain and dismay.

"OWOWOW!" Zipacna whined when his sister-in-law pulled his ear down.

"Marigold, would you take the baby for a walk?" La Muerte asked her daughter, surprisingly calm. "I need to have a _little talk_ with Zipacna."

Marigold understood what she meant with 'little talk' on that tone. She had heard her mother had quite a temper, and she understood why La Muerte wouldn't want Zipacna's child to find out about it this soon. "Yes, mamá."

Surprisingly, Zipacna blocked his niece's way with his wing, pulling Algner closer to him. Despite the pain in his ear, Zipacna managed to speak. "Pull this ear as hard as you wish, La Muerte, but he stays here no matter if you pluck feather by feather off my body!"

Both La Muerte and Marigold stared at him in utter surprise.

"That's right! He's falling asleep, and if you wake him up you'll owe me half-an-hour of shoulder massaging."

La Muerte thought for a moment, and she snapped her fingers. A small halo of golden light surrounded Algner's head, it was a sound-proof spell centered particularly on him so he wouldn't hear what was coming next.

" _MISERABLE HIJO DE BURRO LEPROSO_!" La Muerte _screamed_ into Zipacna's ear, pulling him closer by the ear. "HOW COULD YOU ENDANGER THAT POOR CHILD LIKE THAT?!"

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?!" Zipacna snapped, protectively pulling Algner close with both arms, wincing at his ear being pulled and his eardrum ringing from the volume of her voice. "I already got a lecture from Xibalba-!"

"OH, THAT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO THE SPANKING I'M GIVING YOU! THE ONLY THING THAT SAVES YOU FROM A BEATING IS THAT THE POOR CHILD NEEDS YOU!"

Marigold crossed her arms, frowning at her uncle. "I never thought you'd do such a thing, _tío_! I knew you were irresponsible, but this time you went to far! What if Algner had died?!"

"I know what I did has no excuse, so I won't bother to defend myself. But I do want to let you know that ever since that night I've not been the same."

"I've heard that so many times I don't know if I should believe you, Zipacna." La Muerte snapped, crossing her arms.

"You don't have to believe me, but I suggest you try to calm down. Remember losing your temper isn't good in your state right now, and with how Xibalba's been getting lately."

"What do you mean?" Marigold asked, growing concerned. "Is something wrong with papá?"

Zipacna wanted to say something, but he had gotten in trouble for being a big mouth, so he had to refrain himself from answering the question. "I'm afraid that is not something for me to tell. I came here because I figured you were worried about Algner. He's perfectly fine now, and he's about to fall asleep, as you can see." He glanced down at Algner, who had indeed fallen asleep.

"Well, he could share the crib with Hugo." La Muerte commented, her tone still a bit dry. She wouldn't be able to give Zipacna the scolding he deserved until he was certain the baby would not be disturbed. First they would put Algner in bed.

 _Then_ she would scold Zipacna.


	10. Nadia

The more time he spent with Algner, the more he got used to fatherhood. And the more attached he grew to him, and viceversa. As time went on, he also had to change lots of things in his behavior and daily life, in part because he had to give Algner a good example. It was harder without Camazok around, but he was happy the boy had a chance of reconciling with his dad… and he was still surprised Camazotl had such a change of heart. Maybe he couldn't bear the loneliness anymore. He did miss Camazok, though; not because he did technically all of his work for him, but because he knew how he liked things and was a good assistant, as he put it.

And his imps weren't exactly very smart.

At times like these, he missed Emilio and the others, and envied Xibalba.

A knock on the door interrupted him from watching Algner sleeping, and he bristled his crest feathers in annoyance. "What is it?" he asked in a low voice, loud enough for his servant to hear though.

"Sorry for interrupting you, My Lord, but a lady wishes an audience with you." The imp said from the other side of the door.

"A lady? Who?"

"No idea, she just said she needed to talk to you urgently."

Zipacna pricked his ears curiously. Women _never_ came looking for him, it was _him_ who went looking for pretty ladies, at least he used to. The only reason a woman would come looking for him was to give him a good trashing over something, or yell at him about bedding their sisters or something like that. As he neared the gates of his throne room, he put a neutral expression; Xibalba had taught him to be professional whenever someone sought an audience.

As he stepped into his throne room, there was a feeling of dejá vu as he set eyes on the visitor. She was a woman with light blue skin and wary dark aqua-green hair, she wore a long dark blue dress, its sleeves reached half her elbows and it exposed her shoulders partly. A long white cape with teadrop patterns cascaded from her shoulders, which let Zipacna know she was probably a water nymph.

"Good evening, ma'am." He said. "I hear you wanted to see me…"

When she turned around, he froze in place. He recognized those fin ears, those aqua green lips, and those greenish azure eyes.

"Hello, Zipacna." The woman said coldly, crossing her arms. "Remember me?"

He tried so speak, but no words came out. "I….I"

"Evidently, you do."

"N-Nadia?" He was surprised when she smiled at him.

"See? You remember."

"What are you? How did you find me?" he asked.

"It's not that hard, Zipacna. Considering most of the goddesses in the pantheon know about you and your reputation. And you have something that interests me…. Or rather, belongs to me.

"What do you mean?"

Nadia placed her hands on her abdomen. "Someone that came out of here, Zipacna."

His heard skipped a beat. Someone that…? Did it mean…? He started connecting the dots, she _was_ the last woman he slept with, and it had been almost a year since then… This could only mean one thing… "You… You?!"

Nadia nodded. "I am his mother, Zipacna."

"But… what are you doing here?"

"I'm taking my son back home."

"What?!" Upon realizing what she meant, his feathers bristled in anger. "No, you won't."

"Excuse me? I'm his mother."

"The mother who abandoned him!"

At that proclamation, Nadia looked down in shame. "I… I was afraid, he was a shock for me… I didn't feel ready to look after a child…" she looked back at him with determination. "But now I am."

"But now's too late!" Zipacna snapped, growling. He did know what that feeling was like, but she _didn't_ know what he had done. "While you were having fun with who knows who, I took care of him! And you didn't even bother to come and ask if he was fine! You didn't bother to come and see him, and you say you're his _mother_?!"

"I wonder if leaving him with you was the best thing. You're not precisely very responsible, I'm surprised he survived until now."

"People can change! You can't bring him into my life and just take him away just because you changed your mind!"

"Look who talks, the man who never liked kids or responsibility in general."

"That was _before_!"

"Oh, right! What exactly changed in you!" Nadia growled. "You tried to abandon him too! You nearly killed him!"

Zipacna's pupils shrunk, she did know about it. That could be the reason she wanted to take her son back, but he would not give up his son without a fight. "You abandoned him too, so don't come and give me moral lessons because you don't have the right either! At least I made up for my mistake! I took responsibility and took care of him!

"That's exactly what I'm trying to right now! I want to take my role as a mother!"

"If you love him so much why did you wait until now to 'reclaim your son'! You lost the right when you left him at my doorstep!"

"I had my reasons!"

"Nothing justifies it, and I say it because I lived it in flesh and bone! I have no excuse and no justification for what I tried to do!"

"How would you react if some bastard left you pregnant and disappeared without a trace?!" Nadia said, losing her calm momentarily.

"A real mother would have fought for her child!"

"And a real father would have taken responsibility the moment he knew, but you were gone before I could tell you I was pregnant! And who knows how many women had this same luck! I was in shock, Zipacna!"

"And how do you think _I_ felt when I found a baby in my doorstep without a fucking clue as to who was the mother?!" Zipacna growled, taking a step forward. "I won't deny I was in denial at first, but now I've taken responsibility!"

"I want to do so as well!"

" _Ay, por favor_! You never cared for him! You never wrote to ask about his wellbeing! You never visited him! I do not think your maternal instinct simply kicked in when it was never there to begin with!"

"What do you know about parental instinct?!"

"Well, for starters, I actually stared to look after him! And I love him, and he loves me! You will not take him away, _fin de la discusión_!"

"As if! You don't even love yourself, Zipacna! How could you love somebody else? You never did!"

"HA! Says the woman who didn't love herself enough to fight for her child! What kind of mother would you have been?!"

"I am his mother!"

"There's more to being a mother than just giving birth to someone, _mujer_! A real mother wouldn't have abandoned her child! My sister-in-law is a better mother than you are, perhaps you should take lessons from her!"

Nadia hisses. "I don't want to make a scandal, but if I have to I will spill blood to take him back! And you know I would!"

"That's pretty clear! But hear this! You will only take Algner out of this castle over my dead body!"

Nadia narrowed her eyes, her arms crossed in a stiff position. "I tried to do this the good way, Zipacna, but you left me no other choice." With that, the water nymph was gone in a swirl of water. Zipacna growled as he continued to stare at the spot she had been standing a few moments ago. He could not believe it, she _had_ to come at the worst time, precisely when the pantheon was still talking about how he nearly… He didn't even want to remember it. And sadly, he didn't know Nadia enough to tell if she would use underhanded methods to take Algner away, they didn't interact much apart from their time in bed.

He needed help.

* * *

If there was one thing Xibalba hated, it was being dragged out in the middle of something important. Especially when the person who dragged him out was a certain brother of his who gave him no other choice in the matter. He wanted to give La Muerte a surprise dinner, and Zipacna had to choose _that_ very moment to send him a damn letter. La Muerte said it was okay, but it was not with _him_.

He made his way towards Algner's nursery after asking an imp about Zipacna's whereabouts, and saw Zipacna standing next to the child's cradle, and he looked… troubled.

"What is so urgent that you technically ruined my surprise dinner for La Muerte?!" Xibalba hissed in a low voice.

"Sorry about that, but it's urgent." Zipacna retorted in a low voice.

"What happened now? Did you lose another of your favorite magazines?"

The elder god rolled his eyes. "No, it's _actually_ urgent. Algner's mother came today and told me she wants him back."

Xibalba's eyes opened wide in shock. "Wha…? His _mother_?"

"SHH!" Zipacna hissed, glancing and Algner and sighing in relief when he saw he was still asleep.

"Who is his mother, now that we're on it? You never told us."

"I only found out today. Remember the Scottish water nymph I told you about?"

"Yes."

"That's her. Her name is Nadia."

"And you say she wants him back?"

"Yes, it was out of the sudden! From the way she acted, I don't think she has good intentions with him."

"I see… Why didn't she appear until now, then?"

Zipacna scoffed. "I doubt she wants to make up for lost time. I mean, maternal instinct doesn't just come out of nowhere like that! Just ask La Muerte and Marigold!"

Xibalba sighed, leaning against the wall and fidgeting with his staff. "It's not about it coming out. There are simply women who are naturally good mothers, and women who weren't born for it."

"I'm afraid she will take this to the Kings… She doesn't belong to the pantheon, but she is Algner's mother, so she can at least appeal for his custody."

He knew where this was going. "What are you going to do?"

"For now, I have to find out what she wants with Algner. She will not take him without a fight. And I'd like your help with something."

"What is it?"

"You are good at dark magic. In fact, you have more experience in it than me. I put a protection spell on Algner, but two are better than one."

Xibalba couldn't deny him that. It was his nephew they were talking about, after all. He muttered a spell in the Ancient Language and stamped his staff, releasing a large field of green energy that expanded out of the room and around the castle. "If there's something I know about water nymphs, it's that they are repelled by dark magic. They are naturally repulsed by it."

Zipacna nodded. "Exactly."

"That spell will keep anyone and anything out of the castle's borders unless they are invited in."

"Okay…" Zipacna sighed in dismay and ran a hand down his face in frustration. "What am I going to do if anything…?"

"Nothing will happen."

"I don't want to take any chances, Xibalba." Zipacna growled in exasperation. "Damn it, Nadia… If only I could…"

"I know."

"Thank you for coming, Xibalba… and sorry for ruining your surprise dinner."

"That's okay. La Muerte would have killed me if I had ignored you, anyway. And if you need any more help, you know where to find me."

Zipacna merely nodded, and watched as his brother teleported away. He glanced down at Algner, who was completely oblivious to what had been going on, he simply continued to sleep, dreaming of who knew who. He stirred momentarily when his father picked him up, but then went back into stillness when he recognized the hold. He would ask the imps to lend him a hand in moving Algner's crib to his bedroom, at least until he dealth with Nadia.

She would not take him away.

Ever.


	11. Catching Up with Dad

Despite the spell on his castle, Zipacna figured it wouldn't be safe to stay alone with Algner down there, and against his better judgment, asked Xibalba if he could stay at his place for a few days. Xibalba was reluctant at first due to the mess Zipacna made the last time he was there, but he didn't have the heart to say no. Besides, things were more interesting when he was around.

Much to his surprise, however, Zipacna was… cleaner. The first night he expected the guest room to be a mess, but instead it was still in order, except for the bed for obvious reasons. Not only that, but he spent more time asking La Muerte about baby care, and she was more than happy to help him. Roberto even jokingly asked Zipacna what he had done to the 'real one'.

There still was only one little problem, though…

Hugo continued to wail as he saw his mother holding Algner, despite Xibalba's attempts to soothe him down, and this in turn disturbed Algner into wailing. Finally, La Muerte had to give Algner back to Zipacna while she took Hugo back in her embrace, almost immediately soothing him down, while Zipacna struggled to quiet Algner down.

"That kid has serious jealously problems." He said, but not as a joke.

"It reminds me of a certain someone…" Xibalba added in dismay, having a shrewd and accurate idea as to where he got the possessiveness from.

La Muerte didn't know what to say. She had to admit, Hugo _did_ have possessiveness problems, and she did agree with Xibalba about him getting it from Aimé. But she had to figure something out, his little brother would be born in a few months and she didn't want Hugo to grow resentful of his sibling. But she couldn't just scold him, he was just a baby, after all.

"Perhaps we should let him know he's not being replaced." Xibalba suggested. "And he has to learn how to share you."

"He's just a baby, Xibalba!" La Muerte retorted with a frown. "I can't just scold him!"

"Not scold him like you would a child, I mean teaching him that behavior is not acceptable!"

"Well, any ideas?" Zipacna said, having managed to soothe Algner down.

Xibalba thought for a moment. Marigold and Juan Carlos had that sort of problem with Clara and Kyroc, they were at first jealous of one another for their mom's attention. They solved it by Marigold holding both of the children in her arms and giving them an equal amount of attention. Perhaps that would work in this case…

"Zipacna, think you could hand Algner over to La Muerte?"

"What?"

"I have an idea." He turned to his wife. "Muertita, remember how Kyroc and Clara used to get jealous of each other?"

Having an idea as to what he was suggesting, La Muerte nodded. "It might work…"

Zipacna inquired. "What are you talking about?"

"It's a sort of trick Marigold and Juan Carlos did with the twins." Xibalba explained, taking Algner from his brother's embrace and warily approaching La Muerte. She in turn accommodated Hugo in one arm, and then carefully took Algner in the other, but she was careful to keep them at a considerable distance from one another to keep Hugo from trying to hit his cousin. As soon as Hugo noticed Algner was in his mother's embrace, he squealed in dislike and tried to reach out for him.

"No, no, Hugo…." La Muerte whispered to him, rocking the both of them in her arms.

"So, what are you going to do about Nadia?" Xibalba casually asked Zipacna.

"I don't know yet." Zipacna replied, sighing. "I don't understand. Why the sudden change of heart on her part? I mean, she abandons him and she believes she can just come and say she wants him back? That's a bit suspicious, if you ask me."

"Judging by what she last said to you, I guess she'll try to take this to the Court."

"Ha! I'd like to see her try, she doesn't belong to our pantheon, and she's not a goddess at all. It would be very hard for her to have Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca take her seriously, especially if they take into account Nadia abandoned him…" he noticed the look La Muerte was giving him. "…Oh."

"Yes. Oh." La Muerte said, narrowing her eyes. " _El burro hablando de orejas_. You did abandon your son as well, and this action nearly killed him. That's worse than just abandonment."

"And if you recall correctly, _hermano_ , in this kind of judgment, the child's wellbeing is what matters." Xibalba finished, crossing his arms.

"Come on, I'm not the same as before! You've seen me!"

"Just after irresponsibly abandoning your son and not even bothering to make sure he was at least picked up by somebody."

"Hey, you two are supposed to be on my side."

La Muerte rolled her eyes. "Zipacna, Nadia is surely going to use these arguments against you in a trial, and most the Pantheon, the Kings included, has known you for centuries. Who do you think they'll take more seriously? An stranger who despite abandonment shows concern for the wellbeing of her child? Or a god they've known for a long time, and know him to be irresponsible, childish and immature?"

Zipacna didn't say anything; she had a good point, Nadia was going to use those circumstances against him, and yes, he wouldn't be surprised if his own Pantheon trusted Nadia's façade more than his own sincere change… He had tried to change various times in the past, but always returned to his irresponsible self not long afterwards.

"Then what? I let her take my son away?" he finally asked, glancing at Algner, who remained asleep despite Hugo's angry squeals.

"Do you know anything about her?" Xibalba asked him with a serious expression. "When you… seduce girls first you have to win them over first, right?"

Zipacna frowned. "Seriously? Are you going to bring _that_ topic forth **now** of all times?"

"You're not understanding me. How old is she? Did she tell you?"

"Well…" Zipacna scratched his head, trying hard to remember the encounter. Unfortunately, since he had been drunk that night, it was blurry. All he could recall was that he found Nadia the most attractive, and decided to use his 'charms' on her. However, judging by her mannerisms he could tell she wasn't that old; in fact, she was younger than he tended to pick out, though not young enough to be called a teenager. "I think she'd be around… the equivalent of twenty human years, why?"

"Such a young woman in a place like that? Surrounded by drunkards and much older men? What does that tell you about a girl like that?"

La Muerte knew where he was going with that. "Improper behavior?"

"And if she fell so easily, even with Zipacna's charms, then it must have not been her first time. But the times before she was probably sober, and thus she didn't forget the protection to avoid…" Xibalba glanced at Algner. "…That outcome."

"Well, that would give us the same weight in the balance." Zipacna stated. "On my side, abandonment and neglect. On her side, abandonment and bad influence. I just need to find another thing in _my_ favor."

Both gods noted Hugo wasn't squealing anymore, and turned to see La Muerte sitting down on the couch, still holding both Algner and Hugo in her arms. Algner was still peacefully sleeping, but Hugo had calmed down and wasn't trying to touch his cousin, instead he was fidgeting with his mother's pendant curiously.

"Well, we're progressing." She sighed contently before glancing at Zipacna. "How's Camazok, by the way?"

"Catching up with his dad." Zipacna said with a shrug. "I miss the kid, though."

"Or you miss the things he did for you, like your work." Xibalba said, crossing his arms.

"No, I miss Camazok as a _whole_. What I don't understand is why Camazotz suddenly became a 'caring dad' when he didn't even want to see the poor boy's picture for his entire life."

"Maybe he felt lonely." La Muerte said. "Camazotl was murdered, his wife is dead and Camazok is the only family he has left. It's possible he finally realized it…"

"Still, I wonder what they're doing right now…"

* * *

Camazotz had to admit, he had underestimated two things his whole life: Camazok, _and_ humans.

For starters, Camazok was not the weakling he always thought, at least not anymore. Ever since Zipacna took him in, the boy had changed, his character was much stronger and most of his insecurity was gone. In fact, he had a slightly stocker build from a close inspection. As for humans, he realized they were more than a meal. Sure, they had their defects, but they were also loyal, intelligent and creative, among other things.

Or maybe this town called San Ángel's inhabitants were of the good variety. They looked like good people and honest fellas, and he could tell they were much more open minded regarding supernatural creatures than any other settlement he had ever seen. Who could blame them, though? After all the fiasco with one of Xibalba and La Muerte's famous wagers, it was natural their view of the occult changed.

Not to mention those churro things were _really_ tasty, much more than blood.

"Dad, don't you think you've had enough…?" Camazok asked in worry as he saw his father gobbling down his fifteenth churro, though the vendor was actually delighted. Both were in human form to avoid scaring the humans with their bat mannerisms.

"Oh, come on, I won't break for catering this… churro, right?" the older bat simply said, enjoying his treat.

"Well, no, but eating too much sugar can have certain… side effects."

"Come on, I've never tasted anything as sweet as this before!"

"Is that why you never smile?"

"Very funny, kiddo."

Camazok had to admit, this was a side of his father he had never seen either. It looked like he was enjoying himself for the first time ever since… it happened. Was this the father his brother knew before mother died? That was one thing he did envy from Camazotl when they were kids. While their father wasn't openly affectionate, he always preferred his older son and was much more lenient with him, allowing him to pick on his younger sibling. Camazok never knew if he knew what Camazotl did and acted like he didn't, or he really didn't know.

"Mister Cam!"

Camazok-and his father in extension-turned to look for the little voice, and found Juanoctis's human sister running towards them cheerfully. Camazok waved at her amicably, while Camazotz just stared at her curiously. "Cristina, how are you?"

"Good, came to do some grocery shopping with papá!" she said excitedly. She noticed the older man next to Camazok. "Who is he?"

"Oh, this is my father, Camazotz."

Camazotz nodded. "Nice to meet you, _jovencita_."

"Have you seen Juan Carlos around here?"

"No, why? Is he here?"

"He came to visit, but we turned for a few moments and he was gone…"

"Cristina!" Just then, Manolo came running towards them, as always carrying his guitar. "What have I told you about running off like that?" He stopped when he saw who she was talking with. "Good day to you, Camazok and…"

Camazotz frowned when he saw the father of… he pushed the thought out of his head and forced himself to be polite. " _Buenos días_ , Manolo Sánchez."

" _Señor_ Manolo, this is my father Camazotz." Camazok explained, noting the grim expression on his father's face.

"Nice to meet you, _señor_." Manolo said politely, even though he could tell the disguised god was crossed at him for his relation to Juan Carlos. "First of all, I wish to offer you my condolences over-"

"Thank you, but it's not necessary." Camazotz said curtly. "I took me a while, but I've come to accept that my other son's death was his own doing. And in a way, I was to blame for how he turned out because I never put limits on him…"

"Cam, could you help me find Juan Carlos?" Cristina said, pulling on the younger god's sleeves. "He must be around here."

"S-Sure." Camazok said, allowing Cristina to pull him away from their fathers.

They looked around the marketplace for any signs of Juan Carlos among all the people around there. Although things had settled down, he was probably hiding from the most fanatic people in town. Camazok sniffed the air to see if he could catch his smell, but the abundance of other aromas and scents made it more difficult for him. After a few minutes, however, he managed to distinguish Juan Carlos's scent. He followed it to a much more secluded part of the marketplace, where there were fewer people. He finally caught a glimpse of Juan Carlos closing from behind an unaware old man, his fangs looking longer and sharper, and Camazok thought he saw a reddish tone to his eyes.

"Juan?" Cristina called out to him.

As if reacting, Juan Carlos blinked and the red from his pupils faded away, going back to golden, and his fangs went back to their tiny normal size. The old man, as blind as a mole, turned to the direction of the voice. "Excuse me? My name is not Juan, it's Victoriano."

"Sorry, sir, we're talking to the young man a few feet away from you." Camazok apologized before heading over to Juan. "What was that?"

Juan Carlos blinked in confusion, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't know… I was talking with papá, when suddenly everything went blank, and when Cristina called out I found myself here…"

"You mean you don't remember what you were just doing?"

"No. What was I doing, by the way?"

"You snuck away form us, silly!" Cristina said, crossing her arms with a frown she had undoubtedly gotten from her mother. "I've been looking for you for a along while!"

Juan Carlos chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry, Cristy. I guess I'm a bit distracted, with the kids and all that…."

Camazok wanted to say something, but he guessed it could wait. It wouldn't be a good idea to say such things in front of Cristina, particularly due to her status as a human, and a _very_ young one. Sides, it would be best they went back to Manolo and Camazotz before the latter's fuse ran out. But he had a bad feeling about that red tint in Juan Carlos's eyes and how he was about to… Camazok shook his head. Surely there was a proper explanation for it.

As they went back to the center of the marketplace, they noticed a commotion. Camazok feared his father had somehow hurt Manolo, but as they got closer, they distinguished the mutters as giggles and laughter. Juan Carlos gently made way through the crowd, followed by Cristina and Camazok, and the sight surprised the three of them. Camazotz snatched yet another jar of water from Manolo and gulped it down, his face red and dripping with sweat.

"Dad, what happened?" Camazok asked in worry.

"He wanted to try the _jalapeños_ …" was all Manolo had to say to let them understand what had happened. He had never eaten them before and didn't know the proper way to consume them.

Juan Carlos sighed. "Just wait until it gets to his stomach…"


End file.
